While uniform sponsors have long been prominent in international sports, the American sports landscape has gradually seen more and more ads make their way onto the uniforms. In baseball, jersey sleeve sponsors have been in place for a couple seasons.
But MLB waited until the postseason to make quite the league-wide change.
As the NL and AL wild-card series got underway on Tuesday, fans noticed that all the batting helmets had a massive “STRAUSS” ad on both sides. This evidently was a partnership between Major League Baseball and the German workwear brand that was finalized back in September. Yet, unless you were paying attention to MLB press releases, Tuesday was the first time many fans saw the sponsored helmets.
First look at the sponsored Strauss logo that will appear on both sides of every player's helmet throughout the MLB postseason pic.twitter.com/s3ZbRkAooT
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 1, 2024
MLB — particularly under Rob Manfred’s leadership — has never been one to turn down a quick buck. We remember the FTX debacle where the scandal-ridden, now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange had its logo on all the umpiring uniforms. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that Manfred would let a brand with minimal awareness in the U.S. be plastered all over helmets in the sport’s biggest games.
According to Sportico, the placement could be worth $15 million in brand exposure.
But it was safe to say that MLB fans were not enthused with the sponsored helmets.
This was how Twitter/X reacted
I fear this is not far away now… https://t.co/02Q8Rm0CgS pic.twitter.com/GIXIc5cQKc
— Nestor’s Apple 🍎 (@appleofnestor) October 1, 2024
Superimposed ad on the mound. Superimposed ad behind home plate.
Presenting sponsor.
Ads on the helmets.
Superimposed ad in center field.It wasn’t always like this. https://t.co/anfwiwAXqs pic.twitter.com/tBbivroGxl
— Chilekasi Adele (@CAdeleTV) October 1, 2024
What happened to the beautiful game I love 😭😭😭 https://t.co/r7RVrdCpVG
— ⚾️🖤♡Amanda♡🖤⚾️ (@zephyrsky) October 1, 2024
hate this btw like a lot https://t.co/fYtveZih8j
— Gritty Bron🐅 (@BronScreams0323) October 1, 2024
Absolutely gross https://t.co/7UgIrFhB7A
— Papa Cole (@papa_cole45) October 1, 2024
maybe baseball was a mistake https://t.co/oAkWv8rmBp
— Cory Sharber (@sharbertweet) October 1, 2024
Hey @MLB try listening to your fans on at least ONE topic. We hate this. Stop with the unnecessary money grabs. We’re still complaining about the sleeves and that isn’t an indication that we want MORE ads. https://t.co/8KszaCDo3w
— Marvin (@itsMarvinM_) October 1, 2024
https://t.co/zsrFAZYAVu pic.twitter.com/LhBgOF7kho
— Jimmy (@chitownchip) October 1, 2024
