For more than two months, Major League Baseball executives had endured the
gripes from players and the ridicule from fans about the league’s much-maligned new uniforms. Then, last week, they finally decided they had enough.
On a video call last Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter, MLB told
Nike officials that things needed to change. The tiny letters on the back of the jerseys had to go. The massive stains that appeared when players got sweaty needed to be fixed. And so did the frequent instances of their pants ripping when they slid.
Then, on Sunday, a scathing memo sent by the MLB Players Association confirmed that the changes to the uniforms, which are designed by Nike and manufactured by Fanatics, will be made by the start of the 2025 season.
Assailing Nike, the MLBPA’s memo said the company’s official position in response to months of complaints had been “nothing to see here, players will need to adjust.” But now, the union said, Nike is finally prepared to make the overhauls that players and fans had been clamoring for—and undo much of what had been changed.
“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo said. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”
Nike didn’t respond to requests for comment.
MLB also argued since spring training that players would learn to adapt, and that it wouldn’t be making substantive changes to uniforms Nike had spent years developing. In the end, though, notable elements of the too-sheer uniforms will be a one-and-done.
When the new jerseys, known as Nike Vapor Premiers, were broadly released at the start of the season, they were touted as a cutting-edge overhaul that was long overdue. They promised to offer both a better fit and sweat-wicking technology on uniforms that would be stretchier and dry faster than the past editions. Nike called them the “most advanced uniforms in the history of MLB.”
Then players across the league actually put them on and fans saw what they looked like at spring training.
The letters on the nameplate, which lacked actual embroidery stitching, were conspicuously small and looked cheap. Players bemoaned the lack of properly tailored pants. It didn’t help when, on team photo days, the pants were practically see-through.
When the regular season began, baseball’s wardrobe malfunction somehow worsened. In a late March start—hardly the most sweltering part of the season—the jersey of Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon became so drenched in sweat that it appeared an entirely different color.
Some players conceded that the uniforms felt good, noting the lighter fabric of the top in particular. Yet even they wondered why so many aesthetic sacrifices had been made in the interest of letting in a little more breeze. The MLB logo on the back of the jersey had been moved below the collar line, giving it a more prominent position, while their own names had shrunk.
The issues with the uniform didn’t go unnoticed prior to their rollout, a multiyear process that involved sending prototypes to team equipment managers. In one case, the Kansas City Royals wanted so badly to retain the bigger letters on their uniforms that team owner John Sherman sent a letter to Nike last year to gain an exemption. The Royals were allowed to use the bigger letters throughout this season’s spring training, but when the regular season arrived, they still received diminutive lettering.
Ultimately, fans panned the Nike Vapor Premiers and wondered why they would pay $175 for a jersey that looked like a knockoff. Players mocked them and reveled in pointing out their flaws.
The entire situation posed a difficult set of questions for MLB, Nike and Fanatics, and the MLBPA’s memo pointed the finger directly at Nike for the issues. The union said it had cautioned the company against various changes since they were first previewed in 2022.
“We recognize that, for players, this has taken too long, and was entirely avoidable,” the memo said.
The situation only adds to
the problems facing Nike, which is under fire on other fronts. In recent months, Nike has laid off more than 1,600 employees, faced internal criticism from its own employees and lost ground in areas such as its core running category.
Now, according to the union’s memo, Nike will address the issues with its MLB uniforms. The pants, the memo said, will return to full tailoring options and past stitching standards to “prevent blowouts.” Even the higher quality zipper used last season will be restored. The jerseys will also return to the larger lettering, while “Nike is also working on a plan to address the perspiration challenges.”
