MLB unveiled the seven participating clubs in this year’s City Connect uniform program, beginning with the Nationals and their cherry blossom-themed uniforms. The other teams announced today -- the Rockies, Astros, Royals, Angels, Brewers and Padres -- will join the inaugural seven clubs that participated in '21. Nike, Baltimore Ravens Jerseythe official uniform and footwear supplier of MLB, partnered with teams to design jerseys inspired by their cities. MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden told SBJ that the program in '21 “exceeded our wildest expectations,” and Nike "definitely pushed us to a place that we were uncomfortable." Garden: "I can't tell you how many conversations I have with clubs that, in some cases, thought we potentially could be going too far. And I kept saying, ‘This is why we did this partnership.’ We did the partnership to reach a younger audience, to reach a diverse fan base, and to do it with somebody that you can trust.” The Nationals’ City Connect uniforms will be worn during select games this season, starting with the home-opening weekend against the Mets, April 9-10. Garden said MLB’s goal is to have all 30 teams debut City Connect uniforms over the next few seasons: “This is going to be a rolling program, one that’s going to be with us for quite some time, and we'll continue to put significant time and effort into it.” MLB Authentic Collection partners New Era and Stance worked in collaboration with the clubs, MLB and Nike to develop the City Connect caps and socks.
NATS TAKE THE LEAD: Taking inspiration from the annual springtime cherry blossoms around the Potomac basin, the Nationals’ City Connect uniforms feature an anthracite base color, cherry blossom print and pop of pink on the trims. The Budweiser Clydesdales will deliver City Connect merchandise to the Nationals Team Store tomorrow for the series launch, which fans are invited to. Nationals City Connect merch will be available San Francisco 49ers Jerseyexclusively at the team store, MLBShop.com and neweracap.com through April 4 before hitting Nike online and select retail locations on April 5, with full online and in-store distribution on April 10. In the NBA, the Wizards are joining the Nationals with cherry blossomed-themed uniforms of their own, marking the first Nike uniform campaign uniting multiple teams from the same market. The collaboration kicks off tonight as the Wizards host the Bulls for Cherry Blossom Night at Capital One Arena, featuring joint creative elements and an appearance by the Nationals Racing Presidents. The two teams will collaborate on other thematic initiatives as the Wizards’ Nike City Edition jersey makes its on-court debut during the '22-23 season. Both teams will be showcased in the annual Cherry Blossom Festival Parade on April 9. Nationals Owner Mark Lerner said in a statement, “D.C.’s cherry blossoms represent hope and new beginnings, making them the perfect symbol of this Nationals team.”
“There’s nothing quite like the bond between baseball fans, their home teams, and their hometowns — and the Nike MLB City Connect series is an ongoing celebration of that relationship,” said Sonja Henning, Nike VP of North America League Partnerships in the press release. “We are thrilled to honour the history of each club while pushing the bounds of what a baseball jersey can be. We hope this series will continue to energize longtime fans — and bring a generation of new ones to the game.”
MLB Authentic Collection partners New Era (the provider of on-field caps) and Stance (on-field socks) worked in collaboration with the Clubs, MLB and Nike to New York Giants Jerseydevelop the official on-field City Connect caps and socks which, along with the Nike jerseys, created a new, unified head-to-toe design.
While uniform unveiling dates for the seven new City Connect clubs weren’t released, we did get a list of when each of these teams will wear their new look in a game for the first time. The Washington Nationals (who unveiled their uniform earlier today) will start things off on April 9, the Astros will follow on April 20, Kansas City on April 30, the Rockies on June 4, the Angels on June 11, Milwaukee on June 24, and finally the San Diego Padres on July 8.
