NEW YORK — Major League Baseball plans to modify its Nike uniforms by the start of the 2025 season following complaints this spring from players and fans, according to a report from ESPN.
The changes will include restoring larger lettering on the nameplates and correcting for mismatched gray tops and bottoms, pants that are sometimes see-through and fabric that looks different when players sweat. The changes were detailed in a memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association on Sunday and will take affect by the beginning of 2025.
The report says the memo blamed Nike and its new performance-focused Vapor Premier uniform. The union declined comment to The Associated Press.
“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo to players read. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”
The union said Fanatics, which manufactures the Nike-designed uniforms, was not to blame. The memo said Fanatics “recognizes the vital importance of soliciting Player feedback, obtaining Player buy-in and not being afraid to have difficult conversations about jerseys or trading cards. Our hope is that, moving forward, Nike will take a similar approach.”
Last month, Fanatics founder Michael Rubin said his company was being unfairly blamed for the uniforms that had see-through pants and other fit and design problems.
“This is a little bit of a difficult position,” he said in early March at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. “We’re purely doing exactly as we’ve been told, and we’ve been told we’re doing everything exactly right. And we’re getting the s—- kicked out of us. So that’s not fun.”
