Report: MLBPA throws Nike under the bus over uniform fiasco

Player uniforms for the 2024 MLB season have been widely unpopular with the athletes wearing them. The MLB Players Association has placed the blame squarely on Nike’s shoulders.

This season, Nike debuted what it called the “Nike Vapor Premier” uniforms, which the company had touted for its superior performance and comfort on the field. The opposite has ended up being true.

The MLBPA recently released a memo to its players addressing the uniform complaints, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The union assured players that the league will remedy the uniform issues by the start of the 2025 season at the latest.

The union’s memo reportedly blamed Nike for unnecessarily trying to innovate. The Oregon-based company designed the uniforms, while Fanatics manufactured them.

“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo to players read. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”

This season’s MLB uniforms have been an utter disaster for multiple reasons. Players have torn them apart on routine baseball plays. Fans have also noticed the pants being notably see-through, leading to some awkward player photoshoots.

The stitched lettering on the back of the jerseys has looked considerably worse. Players have also complained about the uniforms’ propensity to accumulate sweat.

The MLBPA had warned Nike about its planned adjustments to the uniforms as early as 2022, per the report.

Nike had previously held firm that the players would simply need to adjust. The sizable backlash has grown loud enough for Nike to backtrack on that stance.