Nike's Back to the Future Moment with Uniforms of Old

Nike is bringing back the uniforms from before 2024, meanwhile the Diamondbacks could be on the verge of a potential new City Connect jersey

Arizona Diamondbacks teammates high-five Gabriel Moreno (14) in the dugout after he scored a run against the Colorado Rockies on Opening Day at Chase Field. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Celebrate with the Arizona Diamondbacks and MLB players across the league, as Nike is reversing their uniform decisions that they made last year. They are rolling the jerseys and decisions back for this year and next year. There's news from the D-backs as well.

Speaking to Jack Sommers, D-backs' President, CEO, and General Partner Derrick Hall indicated there would be an announcement regarding City Connect uniforms during Spring Training.

According to a report from The Athletic, the infamous Nike Vapor Premier jerseys are going away. The ones that made players sweat more, changed colors when wet, and didn't always match the pants. Plus, one can't forget the issues with the appearance of being see-through on multiple occasions.

Nike is returning to the Majestic's era template pre-2024, returning to the jerseys that had been around with mostly the same look for years that fans and players loved.

That means that the lettering and numbers on the back of the jerseys are back to being large and emboldened. Jerseys that "don’t wick sweat into nationally televised Rorschach blots."

Some confirmation that MLB fixed the small name plates from last year’s jerseys.

Got the first look at it when the Guardians released their new uniforms, and now the Dbacks with the new Corbin Burnes jersey pic.twitter.com/VNB3BPWoUA

— Logan🌵 (@phxlogan) January 15, 2025

This will make for an easier time to read the jerseys, see the player names, and to not embarrass the players from them sweating playing a professional sport.

Not only that though, Stephen J. Nesbitt wrote, "The 2025 road grays will feature the pre-2024 fabric — a thicker material introduced by Majestic Athletics, the league’s previous uniform supplier — and the home whites will follow suit for 2026. Among other elements coming back this season: larger numbers, embroidered sleeve patches, and team-specific custom font."

Reverting to the prior uniforms will take two years. Once it's finished, it's unknown whether Nike will make any other changes.

Thicker material means less blowouts on the fabric from players sliding, running, or doing other physical activities. Plus, it will not reveal sweat or change color.

According to the article, the number one reversion that players will celebrate the most is that the pants will be once again tailored to each player's body, so they fit them correctly rather than choosing one of four styles.

The players have already been measured and they will be checked again in Spring Training to make any last minute changes. Players have different leg shapes, they should be allowed to wear clothing that makes them comfortable and they will once again.

This reportedly happened because of a player survey from Nike, MLB, and MLBPA, and the results seem to overwhelmingly show that players wanted the uniforms to be changed back to how they were. Otherwise, it would seem that Nike wouldn't be making this drastic a change.

Noticeably, these uniforms will match the ones from 2020-23 in which Nike placed their logo on them and changed the looks, but the colors and material were the same from the 2010s, when Majestic held the license. Fanatics, which manufactures the uniforms for Nike, owns Majestic.

Nike is in the midst of a ten-year, $1 billion contract with MLB to produce the league's uniforms. Once this massive operation is complete, six years will have passed by.

With just four years left, and one public disaster, it's unknown if Nike would be willing to try yet a new uniform product for players to wear and fans to buy.

That's because it would take time to research, develop, design, and manufacture, plus Nike will surely want to renew their contract with the league. Another public wringing by players and fans could make the league choose another company for their uniforms.

Luckily, though last year's Spring Training talk of the town was the uniforms, this year's is not. In fact, it shouldn't even be a topic, as Nike did the right thing and went back to the basics.

NIke should be commended for not chasing profits and rather doing the right thing to make players and fans happy.

Keep your eyes on Diamondbacks ON SI for all things Arizona Diamondbacks. Once any potential jersey news is released by the team, be sure to check here for all the updates and player thoughts.