Baseball’s Advertising Problem: When Every Inning Is a Sales Pitch

Yes, AARP. The organization best known for retirement planning and senior discounts will now sit prominently on the right arm of every Nationals jersey, an ironic twist for a team trying to rebuild around youth and energy. The patch is bold, red, and impossible to miss.

The Jersey Patch Arms Race

When MLB approved uniform sponsorships ahead of the 2023 season, owners were quick to ink deals. The Red Sox added a MassMutual patch. The Padres signed with Motorola. The Mets slapped a New York-Presbyterian logo on their sleeves. What started as a subtle commercialization quickly turned into a uniform arms race and turned a once pure uniform into something else entirely.

Now, instead of clean, classic jerseys, fans see what increasingly resembles a NASCAR driver’s suit — crammed with branding, logos, and awkward mismatches. The Nationals’ AARP partnership feels especially jarring because of its cultural dissonance, but the truth is, all 30 clubs are inching in the same direction. 

A jersey patch here, a helmet ad there, and suddenly, a once-iconic uniform has now become a joke.

When the Scorebug Becomes a Billboard

Sponsorship saturation is not just limited to uniforms. Tune into any Chicago Cubs game on the Marquee Sports Network, and you will notice a deeply frustrating phenomenon: the scorebug occasionally vanishes and morphs into a full advertisement.

Whether it's a graphic for a local credit union or a flashy logo animation for an auto insurance company, the score, runners on base, pitch count, and other vital game information are replaced by a brief commercial while the game is still underway.

This is not just annoying — it is disrespectful to the fan experience. Imagine missing a stolen base, a pitching change, or a key count simply because a network wanted to deliver another four seconds of ad exposure. The scorebug should be sacred real estate, reserved for enhancing the game, not monetizing it.

Ballparks or Billboards?

Of course, the advertising glut is most obvious inside the ballparks themselves. Just look around Wrigley Field, or any other stadium in the majors. Every outfield wall is plastered with logos: airlines, banks, tire companies, beers, and soft drinks.

Every foul pole, every dugout step, every press box, every gate has a sponsor. The concourse television monitors? Sponsored. The replay review announcement? Sponsored. Even the pitching changes, the defensive shifts, the "steal a base" promotions — all drenched in brand messaging.

You cannot watch a game, walk around a stadium, or tune into a postgame show without being marketed to. The game no longer feels like a community gathering or a timeless pastime; it feels like a brand integration exercise.

Who Is This For?

The irony is that this isn’t necessarily benefiting the average fan. Ticket prices continue to rise. Concessions remain astronomically expensive. Worse of all, the TV broadcasts, between pitch clocks and tighter innings, cram in more ad content per minute than ever before.

Teams, leagues, and networks claim these sponsorships are necessary for “growth,” but the truth is, fans are footing the bill in more ways than one. MLB revenues reached over $12 billion in 2024, but very little of that trickles down in the form of lower costs, better access, or improved coverage.

A Call for Balance

This isn’t a call to strip every logo from every wall. Sponsorships help fund the game and keep teams competitive. However, there is a difference between thoughtful integration and sensory overload. The AARP patch is a reminder that no space is safe anymore. The scorebug ads on Marquee Network are a warning that even our most basic viewing tools are for sale.

There has to be a better balance. Baseball thrives on tradition and connection. Over-commercialization risks severing that bond. Fans want to feel like they are part of something special, not just another data point for advertisers to exploit.

Final Pitch

As the 2025 season unfolds, fans deserve to be heard. We love the game. We want to watch the game. We want to share it with our kids without explaining why there’s a retirement insurance ad on a 22-year-old outfielder’s arm.

MLB has already sold naming rights to everything else. Can they at least leave the jerseys and scorebugs alone?

What is your biggest gripe with MLB sponsorships? Tweet us at @OnTapSportsNet