The Los Angeles Dodgers and every other team across Major League Baseball have had no other choice but to wear sub-par uniforms since the beginning of Spring Training, but a subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!“>change is on the way.
A product of a partnership between Nike and Fanatics, the jerseys have received intense criticism from all corners of the baseball landscape, including the players themselves.
MLB agreed to a 10-year, $1 billion deal with Nike and Fanatics in 2019 to design and manufacture its jerseys and the return on investment has not been great. The initial debut of the drastic shift in design of MLB jerseys first appeared during the 2023 All-Star Game and then became the standard during 2024 Spring Training.
The changes in design and quality of the material became quickly apparent and even a viral sensation during media day from all 32 MLB teams. The transparency of the pants received the bulk of attention, but the size of numbers and players’ names, among other issues, also received a lot of scrutiny as well.
Recent developments seem to clear the name of Fanatics and instead place the blame squarely on Nike’s shoulders an MLB memo sent to players said, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN:
“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo to players said. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”
When issues with the uniforms became apparent this season, fans of baseball were upset and let out their frustrations on both Nike and Fanatics because it was unknown with who specifically the blame lied. Fanatics is eager to absolve itself of blame and cleanup the company’s image in the eyes of the public, while MLB is also trying to take some of the blame off themselves:
“We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants,” the union memo said. “MLB had been, and has been, aware of our concerns as well. Unfortunately, until recently Nike’s position has essentially boiled down to — ‘nothing to see here, Players will need to adjust.’ “
While the situation seems to boil down to incompetence and stubbornness from Nike, MLB and the Commissioner Rob Manfred deserve their share of the blame as well from what is stated in the report.
Not only does it look like they disregarded their players’ concerns, but they essentially placed Nike as the more important of the two parties.
MLBPA credits Fanatics for listening to ‘player feedback’
The new MLB jerseys were manufactured by Fanatics in a partnership with Nike. However, Fanatics has received the brunt of the blame from the public due to their already poor reputation for lack of quality and issues in customer service.
To Fanatics’ credit, they have been receptive to player feedback regarding the new jerseys, which the MLB Players Association recognized.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
