MLB Releases Final Details Of Sponsor Patches; Helmet Decals Possible For 2022 Postseason

Sponsor patches on Major League Baseball jerseys will be coming in 2023, but new final details from the league show how they will look. Within this new sponsorship space are details on helmet decals.

For several years MLB has looked at jersey patches and helmet decals as a form of new inventory space for sponsorships. In 2019, as part of the herculean effort to put on the London series between the Yankees and Red Sox, the league experimented with the concept with communications giant Mitel as the helmet sponsor.

With the NBA now years into sponsorship jersey patches, Major League Baseball has worked out the details of how big patches will be, where they are located, and when we might see them.

According to the league, individual clubs can begin reaching sponsorship deals for patches beginning in 2023. The initial size agreed upon will be 4-by-4-inch and can be placed on either the right or left sleeve of the on-field uniform. At a minimum, all sponsorship partners must remain consistent for at least a year. A single design that will be used for that season will be used – no alternate designs will be allowed.

In a key aspect to ensure that designs don’t get out of hand, the league and MLB Players Association must approve all the planned patches. To that end, certain categories in the sponsorship space will be off-limits. They include alcohol, betting, and media brands.

Consumers, they will have the ability to have the patches on jerseys they purchase, or not. Team stores will sell authentic jerseys with sponsor patches at the ballpark. Replica jerseys sold by retailers will come without them.

Given that each club will reach its own sponsorship deal, not all 30 of them may have deals in place on Opening Day of next year. One would expect the large brand, big market teams to reach deals easier than some others.

While jersey patches will not arrive till 2023, according to the league, helmet decals could arrive as early as the 2022 postseason. Unlike sponsor patches, helmet decals will be a league sponsor.

The value of sponsor patches could be a boon to many of the clubs. While pace-of-play has been a drawback for the game, in this case, the static nature of the player in the batter’s box, and the pitcher on the mound will give lengthy impression time. Add in the size of the patches, which are considerably larger than seen in other sports, and the sponsor inventory space should see higher rates.

For comparison’s sake, the current patch deal between the Los Angeles Lakers and South Korean food company Bibigo is $100 million over five years. While that’s the high end of the spectrum, the 2.5-by-2.5-inch patch in the NBA garners an average of $7 million to $10 million across the league.

With the larger size and increased impressions, MLB could see an aggregate average of between $450 million to $500 million annually for just sponsor patches.