The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced their partnership with Japanese designer and retailer UNIQLO, which also includes the naming rights to the field.
The Dodgers will now play their games on UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, the team announced during a press conference on the field at Dodger Stadium at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday.
The partnership with UNIQLO is an unprecedented move for MLB’s third-oldest venue. Dodger Stadium has long been one of MLB’s most iconic stadiums and one of the increasingly few that have not sold any naming rights.
Only seven other teams in MLB play at a stadium without a naming rights deal attached to them, the Baltimore Orioles (Oriole Park), Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park), Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field), Kansas City Royals (Kauffman Stadium), Los Angeles Angels, (Angel Stadium), New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium) and the Washington Nationals (Nationals Park).
However, the Dodgers will not be completing breaking with tradition. The organization is not selling the rights to its stadium name and instead decided to use two separate names for its field and stadium.
Corporate sponsorships have become increasingly visible in recent years, not just in MLB but across the entire sports landscape. Teams began wearing sponsorship patches on their jerseys during the 2023 season, after they were permitted to do so under the collective bargaining agreement.
Teams pursued these sponsors at their own discretion, and the Dodgers chose SPORTFIVE to help secure a jersey patch agreement and the field presenting partner.
Along with the patches, the 2024 postseason saw the addition of a helmet sponsorship. Unlike the jersey patches, teams had no say in whether to participate or in who the sponsor would be. This agreement will remain in place through the 2027 season.
This becomes the latest in a long line of Japanese companies to work with the Dodgers since Shohei Ohtani signed.
UNIQLO specializes in fast fashion with a focus on casual wear. They own more 2,500 stores across the world, including 794 in Japan and 1,002 in China.
UNIQLO currently operates 78 stores across the United States, including 14 in the greater Los Angeles area, and plan to continue expanding.
Dodgers began wearing Guggenheim jersey patch
The Dodgers’ search for a jersey patch sponsor came to an end after one season, with the organization eventually settling on Guggenheim.
The Guggenheim Partners are of course the group that owns the Dodgers, which runs under the name of Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Led by controlling partner Mark Walter and a group of investors including Peter Guber, Todd Boehly, Bobby Patton, Alan Smolinisky, Robert L. Plummer, Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson, Guggenheim has owned the Dodgers since March 2012.
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