Nike's Bad Month

It hasn't been the best month for Nike.  There, of course, was the backlash over the women's Olympic track & field uniforms (which was a ridiculously stupid controversy), but that was just the tip of the iceberg.  They've also been dealing with the negative response to their MLB uniforms since Spring Training.  Reaction got so bad, in fact, that the MLBPA stepped in and essentially threw Nike under the bus.

To their credit, Nike acknowledged there were problems and vowed to fix them by the beginning of the 2025 season at the latest.  Although, I'd imagine it'll happen before the end of this season.  Because Nike knows they screwed up and knew they needed to do something about it.

This is vastly different than the track & field situation.  With the Olympic uniforms, the "controversy" was much ado about nothing from "experts" who were offering their opinion on a subject they know absolutely nothing about.  In this case, it's the MLB players themselves who were unhappy with the uniforms...that they were actually wearing!  And those complaints kept adding up from multiple different players who had multiple different issues with them.

The most noticeable thing about Nike's new MLB jerseys for this season is the player names.  They're significantly smaller.  And the small names look very amateurish.  With longer names that arch around the number, it doesn't look as bad.  But on every other player who has a shorter name, it does.  Instead of authentic MLB jerseys, they look like the replicas fans can buy in the team store.  That's one of the things Nike will address.  They'll be returning to the larger letters.  Not only that, but the colors on some of the team logos are noticeably lighter than in previous years, further adding to the amateurish look.

Another aesthetically significant issue with the new uniforms was the shades of gray on the pants and jerseys not matching.  This was evidently due to a change in the material used for the jersey, which is lighter in both texture and color.  However, the material used for the pants didn't change, resulting in the mismatched colors.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the uniforms don't retain sweat very well.  Like at all.  As a result, they leave very noticeable sweat marks.  And you can only imagine how it looks once the players start to sweat.  The jersey appearing darker because it's drenched in sweat is one thing.  But the pants become almost see-thru!  They're also prone to ripping, which, obviously, is not good.

All of these things have been brought up numerous times by multiple players, many of whom feel the overall quality has deteriorated.  They brought their concerns to both MLB and Nike, but were largely ignored until now.  The MLBPA was eventually heard, though, and all of the players' issues will be addressed.  The player names will be bigger, the grays will match and the pants will "return to the higher quality zipper used in 2023."

In a memo to union members, the MLBPA put the blame squarely on Nike's shoulders.  They didn't mince words, either.  "This has been entirely a Nike issue," it said.  "At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn't need to be innovated.  We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants.  MLB had been, and has been, aware of our concerns as well."

They were also quick to absolve Fanatics, MLB's uniform manufacturer.  Fanatics received a fair amount of criticism, as well, but was doing everything to Nike's exact specifications.  The MLBPA actually defended Fanatics, pointing out that the company "recognizes the vital importance of soliciting Player feedback, obtaining Player buy-in and not being afraid to have difficult conversations about jerseys or trading cards.  Our hope is that, moving forward, Nike will take a similar approach."  That's not very subtle.  In fact, the MLBPA is straight calling Nike out for not listening to them.

Nike signed a 10-year deal to become MLB's uniform supplier in 2019.  Until this season, the biggest changes Nike has implemented are the addition of the swoosh logo to the front of every player's jersey, the establishment of City Connect uniforms (you know my feelings on that topic) and the American and National League All*Star Game uniforms that players now wear instead of their team uniform (which is something most fans wish they would go back to).  This is their first major uniform revamp, although the new uniform, the Vapor Premier, actually made its debut at the 2023 All*Star Game in Seattle.

Rob Manfred was optimistic about the uniforms and the innovations when they were first unveiled at last year's All*Star Game.  He predicted that the players would love them, citing feedback he received at the 2023 All*Star Game.  That prediction was obviously wrong.  The players didn't like them in Spring Training, and their opinion never improved.  Nike was trying to fix something that wasn't broken and ended up making it worse as a result.

That's the most telling thing about this whole debacle to me.  Nike is known for its innovation.  They're always trying new things that they feel will improve performance.  The response is usually overwhelmingly positive.  That wasn't the case here, though.  They tried to do too much, undoubtedly in an attempt to leave their mark.  They left their mark alright!  All of their "improvements" fell flat and, worse, they got on the union's bad side because they were giving the players the impression that their concerns were being ignored.  And, I wouldn't be surprised if the only reason those very public issues are only being addressed now is because Nike's hand was forced.

None of this was necessary, either, which I think is also significant.  There was nothing wrong with MLB uniforms, yet Nike decided to tinker with them anyway.  And, even though the players had concerns, they pressed on anyway.  In hindsight, those were both massive unforced errors.  In every other sport, Nike is sure to involve athletes in the process and get their buy-in.  That didn't happen here, and it resulted in Nike getting egg on its face.

Of course, it's not just Nike with egg on its face.  Major League Baseball doesn't come out of this looking to great, either.  Eventually, the bad publicity about something so stupid became too much.  In the end, they ultimately listened to the players.  If they'd done that in the first place, though, this whole debacle could've been avoided.