They’re startin’ to run out of space.
Major League Baseball announced this morning a multi-year partnership with German workwear company Strauss. The deal will see their logo added to both sides of all 12 team batting helmets during every MLB Postseason and World Series game from now through the end of the 2027 season. The deal also applies to all MLB regular season games held in Europe as well as all Minor League Baseball games—regular and postseason—from 2025 forward.
The Strauss logo will appear in two different colourways, depending on the helmet on which it’s being worn. For teams with red helmets, the decal will feature a transparent version of Strauss’s ostrich logo placed inside a white box. Helmets of any other colour will have the ostrich in white inside a red box. Both feature the company name to the right of the ostrich in white lettering.
“We know that fans of America’s pastime are loyal, dedicated, and value a job well done — just like the Strauss fans around the world who love our family’s iconic ostrich logo. We are proud to be the first brand featured on MLB batting helmets in the U.S.,” said Henning Strauss, CEO of the company. “We are excited to join the baseball tradition and help the American pastime grow back home in Europe.”
All Strauss logos on the batting helmet will be placed parallel to the helmet’s visor, centred, and as far back in the ridge of the helmet as possible. They will be applied starting where the helmet curves at the rim. If the helmet has vents, then the decal will be applied below the vents, following the ridge in the helmet, ending up at an angle. The helmet logos will measure 5 inches wide by 0.92 inches tall (12.7cm x 2.3cm).
Major League Baseball first started allowing advertising on uniforms at the start of the 2023 season, having negotiated the right to do so in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players’ Association. The possibility of MLB selling league-wide postseason batting helmet rights was noted at that time, but the league chose not to do so in 2022 or 2023, opting instead to take their time to find the right partner for such a highly visible spot. At the time, we reported that the league had plans to sell the helmet spot for the 2023 regular season, but it appears they are limiting this to just the Postseason and Europe.
“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,” said Noah Garden, MLB Deputy Commissioner, Business & Media. “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.”
We’ve seen advertising and other decals on Major League Baseball batting helmets in the past. As with sleeve patches, regular season games played overseas have often featured advertisements on helmets. Players also previously wore a large Red Cross decal on their helmets for a handful of games following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Commercial branding on uniforms has long been standard in European sports but is still a relatively new development in North America. The National Basketball Association first allowed small jersey patches in 2017, with Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League following suit in 2023. The National Football League is still holding out. Currently, only seven of the 30 active MLB teams do not wear advertising on their uniforms, and they are the Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, and Washington Nationals.