The Yankees this morning announced that they are selling advertising space on their jersey to an insurance company. The move, including its specific timing, was foreshadowed back in March, when The New York Post reported that “if the Yankees wear advertising patches this season, it likely won’t be until the All-Star break at the earliest.”
The advertisement will make its on-field debut on July 21. The home version is shown above, and here’s how it looks on the road jersey:
The Yankees are the 13th MLB team so far to whore out their uniform to an advertiser. The other 12 are the Padres, Red Sox, D-backs, Angels, Astros, Reds, Marlins, Mets, Cardinals, Tigers, Guardians, and Atlanta. 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.
Rob Manfred hates baseball…
Rob Manfred likes corporate money.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I’m a little surprised that the Yankees went down this path. As much as I like to dump on the Yankees, they at least had it together with their uniforms.
This. I am shocked.
I have no love for the Yankees, but I thought that uniform was damn near sacred in the world of baseball.
This whole thing is really getting tiring.
Nothing is sacred.
Man, if old man Steinbrenner was still alive this wouldn’t be happening.
Actually, the Yankees wore ads on their sleeves AND helmets for games in Japan in 2004, while George was still alive: link
That’s for games in Japan, this is not the same thing. I know I am splitting a fine hair, but games in Japan have always had ads, so far as I remember.
Disgraceful. A team valued at $7 billion needs a few million more that badly? Gross.
It should be pointed out that franchise value does not equate to organizational liquidity. Still, it’s a shame the owners’ drive for profit has come to this.
I thought this would be #30 to fall, and only doing so kicking and screaming. Weren’t they they only team to keep the majestic logo off their sleeves when everyone else had it?
Hal truly is half the man George was.
I didn’t realize that the Yankees were in such bad shape financially to need a uniform advertiser.
This is the difference between advertising and sponsorship. No one needs any one advertiser (thought you could say advertising as a whole is an important part of a business’s revenue stream). It really irks me when media refers to these as sponsorships, as if the Yankees would be playing in their underwear if the generous insurance company hadn’t stepped up to buy them uniforms.
One of those things I thought I had resigned myself to because it was inevitable, but it still makes me queasy. Also I know and agree that the aesthetics of the add don’t make a difference in how gross it is, but even saying that these are particularly visually incongruent for the Yankees uniform.
Honestly, if they stick to their “not going to participate in the CC program” line then I’ve lost the plot. Having a CC uni that they could literally wear for one game and shelve it as far as the team goes, seems way more harmless than a “permanent” ad patch on both “sacred” jerseys.
I have never heard of their “signature partner.” I went to their website and they are like really playing this up on their homepage. You will be seeing this ad through 2031, unless something drastic happens.
The company has an advertisement at Yankee Stadium in right center field, underneath the giant hulking Delta sign. Otherwise I had never heard of them much outside of their Yankee Stadium presence.
They are in your face now, if you watch the Yankees. There are examples of stadium and uniform advertisers that have gone bankrupt or merged, so it is no guarantee the patch stays that way for the full 8 years. I guess you could also hold out a sliver of hope that this program is not successful, there is backlash, advertisers back out and MLB rescinds it, but there is no evidence that will occur.
There are so many advertisements at Yankee Stadium that I mentally tune them out. I remember the team made it a point to not sell naming rights when new Yankee Stadium opened but they made sure to sell ad space as much as possible, even home runs are accompanied by an animation with Delta branding on the main video board.
Dick Starr played for the Yankees in 1947 & 1948. He finally got his name on the jersey.
Looked him up. Never lost a game with them, and had a 1.88 ERA. Completely deserving of the first ever Yankee NOS (name on sleeve).
As soon as the Yankees realize how good his stats were, they’ll probably retire his number as well.
I’m not really against uni ads, maker’s marks, City Connect, etc., but this seems like a step too far.
How soon before the Yankees are playing in Pepsi Stadium? Or Chase Stadium? Or AmEx Stadium?
I’m sure Hal is rubbing his little hands together and already counting the dough from naming rights.
You’d think the damn Yankees could manage to bag something at least a little more prestigious?
Yeah, I was expecting Tiffany, or Mercedes. Something luxe.
I felt the same way when the Yankees used the Datsun 1200 and then the Datsun B210 as their bullpen car in the early 70s. C’mon, if you’re stuck with Datsun, at least use a 240Z.
I only really object when whichever advertiser has such a boring logo, and this is really boring logo, and far more no-name than I assumed the Yankees would have attracted.
Lots of these baseball teams have total snoozers for ad patches.
That’s an interesting opinion. You seem to feel that the patches should call more attention to themselves, am I right?
Isn’t that the point of an advertisement? To draw attention?
Larger and more colorful would please you?
A. MLB has set size limits on the patches, so it can’t be larger.
B. The OP said he had a problem with “boring” logos. More/different colors does not necessarily constitute “less boring”.
I live the hand-wrigging and lamentations! C’mon people! Did anyone really expect that the Yankees wouldn’t join the ad patch revolution? It’s only surprising that it didn’t happen sooner. Every team will eventually do it. The money is too easy to pass up.
Does it suck? Yes. But stop acting so surprised.
Totally agree, Sean. But I do feel like every dad of a teenage boy, “I’m not angry at you, just very disappointed.” :-)
As a diehard Yankees fan, this is downright sacrilege. Both the team and their historic unis are headed in the absolute wrong direction thanks to Hal only caring about the almighty dollar over winning and tradition. SMH.
Even if all of these sleeve ads stink, this fits in perfectly with the boring, corporate Yankees style – like I’m reading Crain’s and keeping up on all the NY commercial real estate news.
I never thought I would see the day that one of the most sacred of all sports uniforms has been tainted. This is heartbreaking.
Rob Manfred has surpassed Gary Bettman as the worst commissioner in the history of sports.
While a clear disappointment, at least the colors match the jersey, this makes those Astros OXY ads even worse. The most unsubtle ad patch in baseball IMO.
Don’t even get me started again on that oil company’s logo! Talk about brand confusion – the thing doesn’t evoke energy to me, it certainly doesn’t evoke petroleum – it evokes an acne-cleaning pad!
Disgusting and shameful. I hope everyone involved in approving this gets a Brown Recluse in their next bowl of soup.
Side-note, I always thought that if the Yankees ever go down this path, I figured they would sell space to Apple, not an insurance company.
went* down, not go down
They used to be too traditionalist, too proud, too successful to have to search the couch cushions for loose change like other franchises. And yet, here we are…
It really is chump change for the Yankees and the other teams who voted for it will all get less than the Yankees got for sure.
A little shocked that somebody didn’t pony up to not besmirch the sacred uni and make ads about it. Feels like that would’ve been more memorable and more likely to get people to spend their money on your product.
The spiel about “The Yankees have never had names on the backs of their jerseys” rings a bit hollow now, doesn’t it? So, what’s stopping them?
Nothing’s stopping them. They just choose not to do it.
They do certain things and they don’t do other things — just like everybody else.
The sleeve that greed built.
Not a Yankee fan but I held out hope they would not do this. I also hoped for no City Connect from them. But I seem to recall they did wear ridiculous player’s weekend garb. I am pretty sure old George Steinbrenner would not have done this. A sad day.
man how can they add this corporate crap on their classic jerseys. they will be defaced forever.
MLB: “Do the TATC thing”
NYY: Absolutely not. The uniform is sacred. Besides, we’ll look exactly the same in 25 years.
MLB: “Put NOB”
NYY: Absolutely not. The uniform is sacred. Besides, we’ve never worn them.
MLB: “Wear the Majestic logo on the sleeve, like the other 29 teams”
NYY: Absolutely not. The uniform is sacred. Besides, we will pay Majestic NOT to put their ad on there.
MLB: “How about you guys add a blue alternate jersey?”
NYY: Absolutely not. The uniform is sacred. We have the greatest uniforms in all of sport.
MLB: “How’s that City Connect Coming?”
NYY: It’s not. The uniform is sacred. We might not play along.
MLB: “I guess a uni ad’s out of the question”
NYY: “Eh. Maybe the uniform’s not sacred after all…”
Exactly. Next step: sponsors in team names like in Asia. The Mercedes Yankees!