Report: Nike to Take Over MLB Uniforms in 2020

[skwid]

I'm surprised there hasn't been more said about the outlines of the deal.  An NFL-style deal would have fanatics producing all adult jerseys.  The actual on-field jerseys would be produced by Nike.  That means the retail product and the on-field product won't be the same.  They may come close, but there will be differences that baseball fans will notice.  They may make more money per unit, but sales will drop if the product isn't exactly the same.

[lbj273]

9 hours ago, jdavidev said:

Holy cow, just because you have a Nike shirt, doesn't mean you need to pair it with Nike shoes and Nike hat and Nike jeans.  If people really feel that why, the Guf has certainly run dry. 

Nike makes jeans now? Brb gotta run to the store real quick

[WSU151]

19 minutes ago, skwid said:

I'm surprised there hasn't been more said about the outlines of the deal.  An NFL-style deal would have fanatics producing all adult jerseys.  The actual on-field jerseys would be produced by Nike.  That means the retail product and the on-field product won't be the same.  They may come close, but there will be differences that baseball fans will notice.  They may make more money per unit, but sales will drop if the product isn't exactly the same.

 

Interesting point...will Fanatics retail jerseys have the traditional chain-stitch on Cardinals' and Phillies' authentic jerseys, just like the jerseys that Majestic produced? I'd think so, but maybe Nike makes it an on-field thing only.

[Clintau24]

Fanatics began selling NFL jerseys they produced themselves this season. They look awfully similar in the photos, just with the Fanatics tag. They're only like $10 cheaper, so I really don't see the point.

 

Someone told me they purchased a Fanatics-made NBA jersey for her son, and said the quality was absolutely horrendous. They called and Fanatics said that was an outlier and replaced it immediately. Take that as you wish.

[skwid]

7 hours ago, Clintau24 said:

Fanatics began selling NFL jerseys they produced themselves this season. They look awfully similar in the photos, just with the Fanatics tag. They're only like $10 cheaper, so I really don't see the point.

 

Someone told me they purchased a Fanatics-made NBA jersey for her son, and said the quality was absolutely horrendous. They called and Fanatics said that was an outlier and replaced it immediately. Take that as you wish.

 

Awfully similar is fine for a replica.  It doesn't work for something that's $250 and marketed as an authentic.

[BBTV]

I don’t really think anyone really wants an on-field NFL jersey, considering the cuts would look absurd on a normal person who’s not in the same shape as an NFL player and not wearing shoulder pads. 

 

Waaay back in the day when tailoring consisted of sewing a gusset in the side (if needed) that’s one thing, otherwise non-tailored “authentic replicas” should be more than adequate for anyone, though that’s like playing dress-up even more than a replica jersey is. 

[C-Squared]

36 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

I don’t really think anyone really wants an on-field NFL jersey, considering the cuts would look absurd on a normal person who’s not in the same shape as an NFL player and not wearing shoulder pads. 

 

I'm sure I'm not alone in that I own a few gamers that I wear... I find Nike's replicas narrow in the shoulders and loose in the torso. I'm sure that works for a lot of people, but I'd rather spend $50 on an obscure player's actual jersey with a flattering cut than $120 to swim in the same old star player jersey as everyone else.

[NeauXone]

I hope you’re all ready for pointless overexplanations of insignificant details.

[SilverBullet1929]

57 minutes ago, the heat suck said:

I hope you’re all ready for pointless overexplanations of insignificant details.

[sisdog]

12 hours ago, lbj273 said:

Nike makes jeans now? Brb gotta run to the store real quick

Actually there have been some limited edition Nike x Levis collaboration on jeans

[skip88]

On 5/28/2018 at 4:55 PM, BringBackTheVet said:

 

Majestic was sold to Fanatics, who was also going to make the retail jerseys under the UA deal, so there's no reason to think that they won't be manufacturing the retail jerseys under Nike, via Fanatics.  Doesn't sound like they'll have anything to do with the on-field ones.

No, that does not make sense, the replica fanatics jerseys made in the USA by old majestic employees, and the on field jerseys made overseas?  No, i don't buy it.

 

 I am still concerted about Majestic's employees in Easton PA, now that Nike enters this scene.  Where are Nike NBA game jerseys made?

[TheOldRoman]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 5:01 PM, jn8 said:

N ike won’t have full control over designs, teams will. Will Nike give suggestions? Of course, but the final decision is on the teams. Nike can only do what the teams tell them to do. For most teams, this will simply be a transfer of the current design to a new template, for some, they may use this as a way to start fresh, some giving more control over to Nike than others. A lot of people on here need to realize that a manufacturer like Nike has to listen to the teams, not the other way around...

 

Like I said before, nobody thinks Nike will get full control over the design. The much bigger issue is the template. If Nike creates proprietary Nike templates and teams aren't allowed to deviate from them, it will almost certainly be significantly changing the look of some teams. With the NFL switch, at least teams were allowed to keep the old materials and templates as desired. But if the Cowboys and Raiders were forced to wear faded-light-gray-posing-as-silver instead of their shiny silver pants, that would be a huge change to their looks. Nike has already ruined the look of the entire NBA by changing the template. Literally every team was forced to change. The NFL allowed teams to keep old templates, but the NBA didn't. Considering how MLB already caved to New Era and Majestic with allowing the special holiday jerseys and caps to bastardize the league's look for several weekends each year, I'm not confident the league will allow the Yankees to keep doubleknits with woven stripes.

 

And most importantly, Nike doesn't have a contract for the entire NCAA, and NCAA baseball isn't a money maker. Nobody outside of this site and maybe team message boards know when college baseball teams change jerseys. But when MLB changes to Nike? There's going to be a huge press conference, lots of graphic, hashtags, lots of explainers of the different design elements, and coverage from ESPN and major outlets. So this is a huge opportunity for Nike which outfitting college teams doesn't give them. This isn't the '90s anymore. Nike doesn't pay teams or leagues to put the swoosh on jerseys instead of another manufacturer's logo. They pay to advertise new templates which they can then sell to every high school and travel league team in America.

[FinsUp1214]

13 hours ago, SilverBullet1929 said:

 

I’ll never unsee bloodstains when I look at that red gradient from a distance. Gosh that was a horrible design decision.

[imawalkingcorpse]

I have a couple thousand New Era hats, only had 1 or 2 bad fitting hats. Nike hats are pretty uncomfortable and not a good look. If Nike gets the hat contract your run of the mill Kansas City Royals hat will 40 bucks and that will be the basic fitted hat.