From the moment players reported to spring training back in February, the new Nike Vapor Premier uniforms — produced in collaboration with Fanatics — was all players could talk about … and not in a good way.
Fast forward to October, MLB is officially going to make the necessary changes to the uniforms, but the fixes will take longer than many players and fans would have expected.
By now you’ve probably heard about the litany of issues. The pants were see-through, and the fits were no longer tailored to individual players. The away pants had mismatched colors with the gray jerseys. The jerseys would get absolutely soaked with any sweat, and the numbers on the back were made smaller — which made the uniforms look like cheap knockoffs.
MLB reportedly agreed to make the changes earlier in the season, but the fixes weren’t finalized until the past few days. That led to this statement from MLB:
After receiving feedback, all parties set about addressing the players’ requests for enlarged letters for player names, embroidered sleeve patches and reverting back to full pant customization.
Although production timelines will prevent all the uniform changes from being completed in time for the 2025 season, the road grey uniforms made from the 2023 fabric will be ready by Spring Training, and starting in 2026, all uniforms will return to using the previous materials from the 2023 season.
By waiting at least six months to finalize the changes, MLB/Nike/Fanatics weren’t able to put the fixes into production in time for the 2025 season. So, outside of the improvements to the road uniforms, it sounds like players will be stuck with the Vapor Premier issues for another season.
On the bright side, MLB will have players wear their team-specific uniforms during the All-Star Game again. So, there’s that.
