Skip to content
 
Uni Watch

Miami Marlins Unveil New 2025 City Connect Uniforms

By

Confirming the earlier leak, this afternoon the Miami Marlins officially unveiled their new City Connect uniform, version 2.0.

As with most of the previous leaks, we were only privy to the jersey, but not the cap, pants or socks. These have now all been revealed — and shockingly — the unveiling focused almost entirely on the new cap and jersey (I wonder why?).

I’ll get to all the details, including some Grade A storytelling, in a moment. But as always, we’ll start off with the hype video.

The team is using the term “Retrowave” to describe the uniforms, calling them “a symbol of Miami’s identity—bold and united. It’s a blend of history and hope, tradition and innovation.”

Understandably, since the entire point of the CC program is a merch dump, the team focused on the two most saleable items, the cap and the jersey. And after their first CCs — which were excellent — were roughly based on the Havana Sugar Kings, they seemed determined to make their CC 2.0 about Miami, or at least the version of Miami they want to project. As such, the black has been mixed with generous amounts of teal (an original color) and pink. They’re not quite “Miami Vice” — but they’re close.

Unfortunately, they have continued the very tired trope of highlighting the area code, making it the focal point of the cap.

They have blended the old marlin logo with the “305” area code (The area code 305 covers Miami and surrounding areas in southern Florida, including cities like Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, and Key West and is one of the original area codes in Florida, established in 1947). While there are existing overlay area codes, the “305” is the “original.” It’s rendered in teal, with black and pink outlines.

The brim of the cap is a pink-to-teal gradient.

The jersey, which had already been leaked, is also black, but contains ample doses of teal and pink as well (the team refers to them as “pinstripes”).

The wordmark reads “MIAMI” in teal, with a black and pink outline. Miami is rendered in a font that is reminiscent of the original used back when the team began play in 1993.

Numbers are in a bespoke font, also in teal with black/pink outlines. You can see the similarities to the original below:

Aside from the teal/pink lines which are thickest on the players’ right side and which fade to black as they progress across the front and back of the jersey, there are solid pink cuffs.

One sleeve (the other has an ad) contains a custom logo combining the “M” and the marlin logo also used on the cap.

The rear of the jersey features NOB and player number in the same style of teal, surrounded by black/pink. Down near the base, by the jock tag, there is a new logo, showing the outline of the State of Florida in teal, atop a pink striped circle.

The team also unveiled new pants — which I had thought going in might be black — but they are white, with a thick pink to teal stripe running vertically from hip to hem.

The pink section of the pants is at the top, which gradually fades down to teal at the base — sadly, there were almost no few full views of the pants during the unveiling (one of the storytelling bits does show them and the CC socks).

UPDATE: This graphic gives a much better look at the pants (and gradient stripe):

Unfortunately, this is the only full look at the pants and socks. As you can see, the socks also will have a teal-to-pink fade.

And here comes the storytelling:

Hidden from view while being worn, the inside of the collar features “MIA305” in the same teal with black and pink outlines as the other elements.

Speaking of that video, here’s the handy-dandy explainer that really the team really should have included with their hype video, and which does a good job of breaking these down.

I’m going to need to see these on the field to render a full judgment, but I guess I’m not particularly surprised at what the full kit looks like, following the leak. I actually like the jersey — the “pinstripes” are kind of a cool look, and as readers well know, I love bright colors and pastels. The “MIAMI” wordmark is solid, and my OCD greatly appreciates the symmetry of always using teal (be it for the wordmark, numbers, NOB, cap logo) with a black/pink outline.

The cap, on the other hand, is awful. The tired trope of putting either an airport or area code on uniforms is well past its expiration date, yet the Marlins have doubled down with this. I’m sure this will appeal to some, but if they had just stuck with the logo that’s on the sleeve, the cap would have worked much better. I’m also not a terribly big fan of the brim having a teal-to-pink gradient, but at least that will tie in with the CC socks, for those who choose to go high-cuffed.

I’m actually surprised the pants are white and not black, but that’s OK, as we seen with several other CCs that are mono-black (or mono-very dark), white pants are probably a better option. I don’t love the thick stripe having the pink-blue fade, but again, at least this is consistent.

The current Marlins uniform rotation includes white jerseys for weekday home games, blue for Sunday home games, black for Fridays and gray for all other road games. The “Retrowave” City Connect will be worn 11 times during the 2025 season:

  • May 3 vs. Athletics
  • May 17 vs. Rays
  • May 31 vs. Giants
  • June 21 vs. Braves
  • July 5 vs. Brewers
  • July 19 vs. Royals
  • August 2 vs. Yankees
  • August 23 vs. Blue Jays
  • September 6 vs. Phillies
  • September 13 vs. Tigers
  • September 27 vs. Mets

Out of the six CC’s unveiled so far, this one is probably my least favorite, and also the most significant downgrade from the original CC.

What say you?

 
  
 
Related Posts

Houston Astros Debut New City Connect 2.0 Uniforms

Salem Red Sox Pitcher Enters Game Wearing Wrong Color Jersey

EXCLUSIVE: Kansas City Royals Going Full Powder Blue for Home Alternates in 2025

In 1978, Cincinnati Reds Became First Modern Team to Wear Green for St. Paddy’s Day

Remembering Patches, Vol. 1
Comments (65)

    Jersey is awesome. Pants.. meh….. Hat sux.. they just had to slap the Big Ol Honkin 305 on it and ruin it.

    I wish Nike would stop pretending like every team that features their area code is doing something fresh and unique. It is as pedestrian a move as you can imagine at this point.

    I don’t mind this one as much, for a CC it still looks like a baseball uniform. I suppose the only really awful part is the area code on the hat.
    The biggest plus is that is essentially rendered in team colors, or some combination of team colors, throwback colors, and colors very similar to team colors. Basically, you know this is the Marlins, which was uncommon for most designs in round one of CC.
    I don’t like city name on home jerseys, but given the CC of it all, I guess that is the expectation.
    Definitely one of the least objectionable CC uniforms, and the dumb area code hat is the only element that is complete fail. Most CC have multiple failing elements.

    I really cannot believe that Nike looked at the horrendous City Connect cap they gave the Brewers, and said “yeah lets do that again.”

    I’m certain this will be an outlying opinion here, but I actually quite like the jersey. Dare I say I actually like it more than their current black alternate. I like the shade of teal, and I think it contrasts with the pink in an interesting way. The socks are hideous, but I don’t mind the gradient on the pants stripe.

    I think I’ve heard a few people call this next batch of CC’s “Team Connects,” and I think that this may be another case of that. Black, light blue, and pink are the stereotypical “Miami Vice” colors. But instead of wearing light blue (already a team color), they opted for teal, a color more associated with the Florida Marlins days than with the city of Miami.

    Much like Cleveland’s CC, with a few tweaks to this uni, I’d be on board for them getting a full uniform set in this style. (ignoring the awful hat, and that they should just return to the mid-90s unis)

    Ok this was point out elsewhere but “305” from a distance looks like “SOS” Not quite the toliet humor Cards but kind of weird.

    Other than the cap this is quite good. I love the color scheme and the updated classic Marlins logo (which should be on the cap). Black is fine as the Vice style color scheme really works well. I don’t like the horizontal striping and would preferred classic pink pinstripe but I’m guess this isn’t going to show much on the field. Otherwise it’s a good look and this falls into the rare category of being a good basis for a rebrand (along with Cleveland, Atlanta maybe, and maybe Texas).

    I dont know any Marlins fans or the fanbase in general but a question i have….

    Do the majority of the fans prefer the Miami Marlins brand or the Florida Marlins brand?

    Because as a non-bias party, man, I miss the Florida Marlins.

    Every time I see the old FLA Marlins jerseys I think: Man, they got it right the first time.

    The original Marlins vests with teal sleeves were perfect. Then they started removing the teal and focusing on black, and then they went orange for a while. At least now they’ve got teal in there again.

    Those “pinstripes” have me all pumped for an HBO Feature Presentation!

    (And the hat screams “SOS” to me. Which, I dunno – appropriate given their current record, I guess.)

    This is the first CC where I’ve loved the jersey and hated the hat. Can’t ever have both I guess.

    The overall uniform looks better than I thought it would, but is still a huge downgrade from CC 1.0

    The Jersey is really nice, the teal and pink work well with the black base, the wordmark is good and the sleeve patch, with it’s neon sign effect, looks good and you no longer have the Marlin look like it’s got a UTI.

    The hat though would have been nicer if they had left the area code off and chose either teal or pink for the brim.

    So close! The cap would be great if not for the big ol’ area code, and the jersey would be great if not for the weird horizontal stripes. Also, is it weird that I kind of wish they used black pants with these? The only white in the rest of the uniform is in the ad patch. Although, black pants in south florida are probably a non-starter anyway.

    Nope, these would look great with black pants with either a teal or a pink stripe. And the Fish do play indoors, so black pants are doable.

    They’re ok. The old marlins city connects were way better, and I think these could be 33% better if the sleeve logo and the hat design flipped places.

    Huge downgrade from the Sugar Kings uniforms.

    I originally read the cap as “SOS,” which, given the Marlins’ last-in-the-league payroll, is apropos.

    Feels like a cop-out that they’re calling them “Retrowave” instead of “V A P O R W A V E”

    Remove the “305” from the hat, make the pants black, and make the bill on the hat one color and you have a near-perfect city connect.

    This hat is the 2nd worst CC hat of all time, ahead of only the Brewers’ M1KE4 hat or whatever they tried to do. If they had gone with with the sleeve patch logo on the hat and kept all other details the same (including the tye dye brim), it would be one of the best of all time.

    It’s sad when two guys stand back-to-back and look like they’re wearing different jerseys.

    They should have at least used the Miami Vice font.

    Wow! Trying to be positive, this is at least 30 times better than the White Sox clown suit. Still like the rest of the CCs, it doesn’t look like anything a professional team should wear. The colors somewhat go together. There are no black pants, which is always a big positive. I also like that this is a fake vest like the White Sox and Diamondbacks! At least for the players, Miami can play indoors. I couldn’t imagine wearing black or a dark color in the heat and humidity of many teams home cities.

    This is what CCs should be about… given how many Miami teams have had Miami Vice alts recently, its a fun look for the MLB club to get on the act and connect to other teams in the city!

    But it sums up trying too hard. Love the jersey, but there is more than enough there to give a distinct look without all the other gimmicks (ie. the area code!)

    Having said that, I can’t think of many other cities that have this similar alt look going on. Philly with the colours of the city flag come to mind.

    But I reckon once the NFL rivalry CCs come along and we see Miami Vice for the Dolphins and Blue/yellow for the Eagles, I’ll have had more than enough by then…

    Marketing to those weak minds that dream of the importance of apparel adding to “Street cred” …

    Lol dude, repeating that crap doesn’t make it true. People haven’t used that term earnestly in decades.

    Lol dude, repeating that crap doesn’t make it true. People haven’t used that term earnestly in decades. ‎

    Looks like they’ve even changed the colors of the ADT sleeve ad to match.
    The ads obviously aren’t going away… but, this at least makes it slightly more palatable.

    Sick of every team wanting to wear Black.
    Sick of “street cred” unis with Area Codes or ATL’s or other crap.

    Why does every uni element that follows a decent original uniform have to look like a bootleg something selling at the Costa Maya cruise ship dock Flea Market?

    Why do we need this? The sugar kings was a decent set. Why cant we just have a home, away and alts?
    When you get a good set, why do we need to change the alts every three or whatever years?
    This stuff is so gimmicky. Driving me crazy.

    Turn on the tv, recognize who’s playing. have an alternate or throwback for special dates.
    Soon all leagues will be NBA and Oregon Ducks. Bummer man.
    I hate the Yankees, but at least they know about branding.

    > why do we need to change the alts every three or whatever years
    Is that a rhetorical question?
    Once people drop a ridiculous amount of cash on a CC disaster, they’re not going to buy the same thing three years later. Nike has to keep churning out new crap or else they can’t milk people dry.

    I don’t mind the horizontal streaks, although I may change my mind when I see them in action. It looks strangely boxy near the bottom right, though.

    The colors are good. The front wordmark is good. The state outline logo is not too bad.

    The area code cap is awful. I’d be okay with that as a fan merchandise cap (which, frankly, is what these are), or maybe even a batting practice cap, but that looks stupid as an on-field players’ game cap.

    The socks would be fine without the area code.

    If they had used the sleeve patch as the cap logo, it might have been cool.

    I like a lot of the City Connect caps. But this one is a huge disappointment.

    I don’t like the SOS logo on the hat, but these colors speak to the 90s child in me, in the same way Tampa’s do. I like it more than most CCs, but I wonder how it’ll look on the field.

    From any distance, the hat just says “SOS” to me, which is appropriate for the Fish this season. Most seasons, really, so it’s kind of impressively honest for the team to lean in and own their on-field performance. I don’t hate the idea of the pink-blue gradient, but applied left-right on the visor will always be a mistake. The rest of the uniform I’d give maybe a gentleman’s C grade, if I didn’t know what the old CC uniform looked like.

    As far as area code crap goes, I think the Tigers did it best, by ghosting the 3s on the M-1 shield (or rather, D-1 as they replaced the block M from the state route shield with the Old English D). And *best* is rather generous here, considering that’s probably the only element of their CCs that I don’t hate (but then again, I am a lifelong roadgeek).

    Area code as identifier? Check
    Gratuitous use of gradient? Check
    Same old tripe about “X represents the diversity of our neighborhoods…”? Check

    Another boring fucking Nike uniform. I can’t believe they pay people to come up with this shit, time after time after time.

    I like the jersey, pants (the gradient stripe is cool) and socks. If the hat was just the fish and no area code it would be a really solid set

    My opinion remains the same.
    The Marlins original city connect was outstanding.
    It was better than their regular uniforms and in my opinion the best of all of the city connects. I am sad to see them go.
    These are the expected drivel. Nothing special for me.

    So the only rear view of the jerseys appears to be from a retail website? The font for the numbers on that pic doesn’t match the ones in the photoshoot. So weird that it’s inconsistent. Guess that’s on brand for the Marlins tho.

    I don’t hate it, but it somehow feels like less than the sum of its parts…

    TERRIBLE. Even worse considering they had one of the few decent CC sets before with the Cuban deco red and light blue features. This looks like a total shit sandwich compared. I would want my money back if I attended a game and they wore this…

    Jesus…these are fugly as hell. Stick with the retro Miami Cuban style jerseys please.

    As a Cardinals fan, oh how I wish they would’ve gone with “314” instead of “The Lou.”

    I hate it less than I thought I would. I don’t think I like it overall, but I like that there are a few ideas in here that could be interesting in the future. The horizontal pinstripes are a potentially interesting design element (not sure I love that they fade out instead of going all the way around, and appear to be at different distances apart, but the horizontalness is interesting). And its interesting to use multicolored pinstripes on a colored background (like the Charlotte Hornets original designs, which are now widely considered fun and interesting). I don’t usually love gradients, but it kinda works here a bit, probably because of the colors and the background when its on the brim of the cap, and because it doesn’t occupy a ton of space on the pants stripe. I don’t love the font with this aesthetic, but I like harkening back to the older Marlins word mark potentially in the future. I haven’t really liked the Marlins colors since they left the Teal/Silver/Black era, but pink and teal work a little better for me than the neon blue and red they have right now (they at least feel more “Miami”).

    So some ideas here for better uniform development in the future.

    For the record, I thought their prior CC was their best look overall (used the blue and red colors the best at least), and this is worse than that. But I am still surprised that I don’t hate it.

    I do think they have gone way too crazy with black in their color scheme. They play in sunny Miami, FL, and whenever I see their identity–I don’t think of Miami nightlife, I think of like, street racing.

    Why do teams always use their area code? Why do we never see them use their zip code? Why did area codes become a point of “pride” but not zip codes? Inquiring minds want to know.

    Area codes are a lot more recognizable, and more importantly for this application, less cumbersome.

    I don’t think zip codes are as well known either, but that might just be me. Other than 90210, I couldn’t tell you a zip code that is universally (or at least nationally) known.

    Being from Toronto, I am aware that Miami is 305 – I have heard Dwyane Wade referred to as “Mr. 305” numerous times. I could also tell you the most popular area codes for the biggest cities in the country, but other than NYC I’m pretty lost when it comes to zip codes.

    Area codes coved a much larger area and more people. Zip codes are Post Office specific, so in a city with more than one post office, there are multiple zip codes. So there isn’t going to be any fan association with the zip code of a stadium unless they live in the same neighborhood.

    To that point though, most metro areas have multiple area codes. The Phillies play in what was traditionally 215, but the region was split into 610 and 484, and now we have 267, 445 and 835. Plus the fan base includes New Jersey (609, 856, 908), Delaware (302), and eastern PA (717, 570). So, that’s 11 area codes for 1 team, 3 in the city alone.

    Call me nuts, but… I actually like these a LOT. They “look” like Miami.

    The hat was one area code away from making this a 10/10 uniform. They’re an 8/10.

    If they had just put that sleeve logo on the cap, it would be about perfect (or at least as perfect as you’re going to get by not just using the 1993 set).

    I feel like the Marlins should just “own” this color scheme at this point. The Heat have done the Miami Vice colors and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dolphins do that exact thing again for their “Rivalries/City Connect” uniforms. The current Marlin uniforms are dark and blah. Why not take these colors and combine it with a modern take on their original teal set?

    They’ve gone from Illegible to barely legible. Congratulations.

    The number font on the mockup is generic MLB block. The next picture shows the actual jersey worn by the actual player. Sheesh.
    The only take-home here is that the M/fish sleeve patch should be the cap logo by the end of today.

Comments are closed.