Major League Baseball is adding the New Era “flag” logo to its caps beginning with the upcoming post season and becoming a permanent fixture for all 30 teams in the 2017 season. This marks the first time a manufacturer’s logo will appear on a Major League cap permanently.
The “flag” logo, which will be positioned in the space over the left ear, will first appear during the wild-card games.
The New Era logo has appeared on Minor League caps and hats associated with other sports for years, most noticeably on NFL sideline and NBA and NFL draft caps. It also has appeared on fashion-oriented MLB caps.
The change marks an amendment to its former agreement.
“We just wanted to approach them and see if it was time when we can get this exposure on the field of play and really represent this partnership we’ve had with them,” New Era’s MLB Category Director Tony DeSimone told Buffalo’s WGRZ.com. “They were agreeable to it and we’re really excited to start it with the playoffs.”
In 2015, New Era extended its partnership as the Official On-Field Cap of Major League Baseball and provider of baseball caps for all teams through the end of 2019. The company also services fans with a variety of fashion styles and retro caps. New Era began making on-field team caps in 1934 and has done so since 1993 on an exclusive basis.
The inclusion of the logo on field, which had been rumored, was first reported by Sportslogos.net.
The MLB uniform already included more corporate logos in general than North America’s other sports leagues. MLB has deals with Majestic for jersey and pants, Nike for undershirt collar and Stance for socks, in addition to manufacturer logos on shoes, batting gloves, the catcher’s chest protector and other equipment.
