The helmets of the every team in the 2024 Major League Baseball playoffs will have a new look. For the first time in the postseason, there will be advertising on the helmets of each team, MLB announced Friday. German apparel company Strauss is the sponsor.
Ads of 5x0.92 inches with the word "STRAUSS" and the company's logo (a white ostrich over a red square) will be placed on the upper side of each player's helmet in the 2024 postseason and World Series. The ads will appear on both sides of the helmet, per SportsLogos.net, making them unavoidable to the viewing audience on television for each at-bat, regardless of if the player is hitting right- or left-handed. Here's a look:
Major League Baseball teams will wear the Strauss ostrich logo on all team batting helmets during Postseason, World Series, European, and MiLB games starting this fall through 2027 #MLB
— SportsLogos.Net (@sportslogosnet) September 13, 2024
My story here: https://t.co/HBZkXYDb2s pic.twitter.com/IvmS2SXQmU
The sponsorship deal between MLB and Strauss runs through 2027 and the logo will be seen on helmets in all playoff games as well as all regular-season MLB games in Europe. Strauss will also have ads on all Minor League Baseball helmets during regular-season and postseason games through 2027.
"We are proud that STRAUSS selected Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball as the marketing platform to introduce its brand to the U.S. market," Noah Garden, MLB Deputy Commissioner, Business & Media said in a statement. "The fact that our two organizations have so much in common — generational legacy, teamwork, dedication to a craft, celebrating a job well done — is a key to what made this partnership so compelling and we're looking forward to working together for years to come."
Major League Baseball has permitted teams to use ads on jerseys since the beginning of 2023, an issue agreed upon with the players during the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Of the 30 teams, 23 currently have deals for advertising patches on their uniforms.
MLB teams have had helmet advertisements during international games, including during the Seoul Series (Dodgers vs. Padres) and London Series (Phillies vs. Mets) this year. However, those logos were only on one side of batters' helmets and the logos did not face the pitcher.
"We are proud to be the first brand featured on MLB batting helmets in the U.S. We are excited to join the baseball tradition and help the American pastime grow back home in Europe," Strauss CEO Henning Strauss said in a press release.
