The Mets today announced that they have sold advertising space on their uniform sleeves to a local hospital. Insert all the obvious jokes about players going on the IL here.
No word yet on what the sleeve advertisement will look like, but the hospital’s logo is a red square, so that may provide a hint. I’ll update this post once the ad design goes public.
The sleeve ad will make its debut at the team’s home opener, which was originally scheduled for today but was postponed until tomorrow due to the bullpen being maxed out after a rough series in Milwaukee rain in today’s weather forecast.
In addition to the uni advertisement, the team’s seventh-inning stretch will now be hospital-advertised as well.
The Mets are the eighth MLB team to whore out their uniform to an advertiser. The other seven, all of which announced their uni ads prior to the start of the season, are the Padres, Red Sox, D-backs, Angels, Astros, Reds, and Marlins. Several additional teams have said that they’re actively searching for a uni advertiser, so we’ll probably see more in-season announcements in the weeks and months to come.
Update: The patch has now been revealed, and it looks sooooo stupid:
We are excited to show off our Amazin’ partnership with @nyphospital. pic.twitter.com/fnpAdSMwH5
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 6, 2023
They decided they had to use the entire allowable size — four inches by four inches — so they’re left with a ton of white space that makes the type look teeny-tiny. What a bunch of morons.
Likely New York Presbyterian.
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Still, another ad. Yuck.
Well, yes, it says who the advertiser is right there in the linked announcement.
The link wasn’t working for me at first! Couldn’t see the advertiser. Now it’s working.
A wish there was a company that could do a public service and pay to not have an ad (sort of an extension of the Utah Jazz charity thing but the next level). They’re the uniform sponsors and the uniform is clean because they shelled out the money. Alas this is a dream but I’m thinking the Yankees, Dodgers, Tigers, the uniforms that will in particular look horrifying sullied with ads.
Three companies come to mind: Yankees Global Enterprises LLC, Ilitch Holdings and Guggenheim Baseball Management.
The good news… due to the new rules leading to speedy games I’m enjoying watching baseball for the first time in a long time.
The bad news…gotta see so many crappy ads on uniform sleeves. They bug me even more than I thought they would.
I’m hoping against hope my Orioles won’t participate but I know better.
It’s not an ad patch, it’s not a sponsor patch, according to the press release it’s a “symbol of the integrated partnership.” The marketingspeak is so just exhausting and overwhelming and insulting at this point.
I certainly blame Rob Manfred but I find that I have more hatred for Adam Silver in all this. He opened the floodgates and I will never ever forgive him. The fact that some people are still committed to the “Adam Silver is a great commish” narrative that was established apparently just because he was relatively harsh on Don Sterling and also because he’s not David Stern (who was quite resolutely against corporate logos on uniforms, including maker’s marks, btw) frustrates me a great deal
By next season I’d say all 30 teams will have ads on their uniforms. Two seasons tops.
I don’t see the A’s getting a sleeve ad patch until they determine where they will be playing there home games long term. Given that their attendance has been terrible that question may actually be answered within your 2 season timeline.
And helmets after that.
With the recent NHL development where players cited religious reasons for not wanting to wear Pride uniforms, I wonder if there will be any backlash from non-Presbyterian players? Would a player of a different religion be able to decline to wear this based on religious grounds?
I know most hospitals have some religious reference in their name, it’s a possible interesting overlap of the two stories.
On the Uni Watch list of Manfred’s sins…is there going to be a list of things Manfred has done to make the game better? Like the pitch clock? Seeing games with a 15 run total occurring in 2:45 was unheard of last year…
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My hottest baseball take is that Manfred is the greatest baseball commish in history. You read that right. Dude absolutely saved the game from the nerds & the Boomers. Average age of the WS viewer in 2022 was 56. That’s not sustainable.
I’m a traditionalist but not at the expense of letting baseball die. I don’t love the ads but I don’t hate them as much as many here. I do had the Manfred Man on second but the other rule changes are vastly better than that one bad one is bad.
Long live baseball (thanks to Rob Manfred & Theo Epstein).
I have mixed feelings about the man on second. Yes, it’s a gimic, but honestly, even with the faster pace of play rules I still don’t want to sit and watch 15+ innings of an extra-inning regular season game.
I have two lives as a Met fan…pre-ad patch and post-ad patch.
Do I get a discount on treatment if I’m a mets season ticket holder?
Love universal DH. Ok with ghost runner. Hate ads.
Love pitch clock. Games were so long I refused to watch it if it went to extra innings.
Another uni-related aspect of the Mets advertising deal with the hospital: “As part of the partnership, fans who deliver their babies at NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals will also be treated to a Mets onesie, celebrating their fandom from day one.” So the babies born at the hospital will get a uniform of sorts, too. I wonder if the Mets onesie is optional. What if the babies’ parents are fans of another team? Can they opt out of the Mets onesie?
This begs for a countering ad for the seam ripper:
“De-frock the Presby-patch with a Uni Watch Seam Ripper™!”
Tomorrow will be a hoot here……
The Mets ad patch is huge! It looks like a billboard!
Where we are used to seeing the Mets iconic patch logo, we now see that. Even if the logo appears on the other sleeve, this is a disgusting outrage and I will join in on social media to roast the billionaire who could have turned down the money.
A sad development but a sign of our soulless times. Everything and everybody is for sale.
I mean: what can we do about these disheartening ads? Boycott games? Stop buying merch? Switch off the media broadcasting the games? These team owners know very well that we invest emotionally into their teams as fans and they are the kings of abusing our emotional involvement.
Why not shrink the size of the patch like the Reds did? Looks horrible on a pinstripe jersey. White will look terrible on grey and colored jerseys too.
Go Brewers Go
My God, that ad patch is freakin’ huge. Ridiculous and gross. Keep it up, MLB…you’ll turn me into an ex-fan soon enough.
Just a hunch – Brewers will partner with a health care outfit that uses teal as a primary color. It will be disgusting