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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andrew Joseph

MLB players and fans are already hating the terrible Fanatics-produced Nike jerseys for the 2024 season

Fanatics NIke MLB

When MLB and Nike agreed to a 10-year deal with Nike for on-field uniforms back in 2020, it was supposed to be seen as a positive step for the game. Gone were the days of Majestic making uniforms, and instead, the game was going to benefit from Nike’s immense resources for the on-field product.

Yeah, about that …

With new styling and materials for this season, Fanatics — the sports apparel giant — will be continuing the production of both the on-field and retail MLB uniforms. Nike licensed production to Fanatics back in 2020, meaning the uniforms have the Nike Swoosh but with Fanatics quality. Yet, the production/design-level changes in that arrangement are noticeable for this season.

As pitchers and catchers reported to spring camp, the initial reactions have not been positive.

Players think the new materials look and feel cheap and have less customization for fit and comfort. The difference in the name and numbers are also apparent. The name on the back appears to be a considerably smaller font size with a more pronounced arc around the number.

It’s unclear why Nike would want to entrust Fanatics — a company notorious for producing poor-quality merchandise — with the actual on-field uniforms. That agreement for retail jerseys would make sense albeit bad for fans. But players are only going to complain about it more as they continue to report into spring training camp.

Already, though, we’re seeing plenty of negative reaction to this uniform deal.

This was how Twitter reacted

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