Padres Become First MLB Team To Announce Uniform Sponsorship Deal

With the new CBA clearing a path for MLB teams to sell uniform sponsorship patches, the San Diego Padres are the first club to do so.

So it begins...

The San Diego Padres announced Tuesday that they agreed to a sponsorship deal with Motorola that will include a jersey patch on their uniforms beginning with the 2023 season. The patch will be located on the right sleeve of their jersey. Unlike advertisements on NBA jerseys, which are relatively small, the patch is very noticeable.

Padres third baseman Manny Machado modeled the new look.

The San Diego Padres announced that they will wear a Motorola sponsorship patch on their uniforms in 2023 pic.twitter.com/2m1PWNvdHy

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 19, 2022

As part of the new collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association, clubs are permitted to sell sponsorship patches and batting helmet decals as a new way to bring in more revenue. 

Throughout collective bargaining negotiations, which included a 99-day lockout that delayed the start of spring training and the regular season, MLB remained steadfast in its request for patches and decals. The players union agreed to it early on in the process.

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Manny Machado

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred

Greg Lovett-USA TODAY NETWORK

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark (left), MLBPA lead negotiator Bruce Meyer (right)

The Padres will be only the first of many, if not all clubs to take advantage of this new revenue stream. Despite being the second-highest grossing league in the world, MLB has been looking for new ways to bring in money, especially considering the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

The NBA was the first major North American professional sports league to allows advertisements on jerseys, which began in 2017-18. The NHL began allowing helmet decals two seasons ago and the usage of jersey patches is expected to begin next season.

Of the four major North American sports leagues, only the NFL lacks any sponsorship deals that include jersey patches. Of course, the NFL is the highest-grossing sports league in the world.