Nike is “swooshing” in and getting client after client. The United States has laws against monopolizing a certain industry, but yet Nike designs and produces jerseys for the top three sports leagues in the USA, so how can they do this?

Nike took over producing NFL jerseys in 2012, they have secured the production of them until 2028. Nike also secured another giant jersey client, the NBA, in 2017. Nike ensured the deal would last 8 years at the minimum. After the MLB announced they would part ways with Majestic Athletics, allowing who to swoop in? You guessed it, Nike. 

Majestic, has provided some sort of jerseys for the MLB since 1982. If you’ve never seen a baseball jersey from over the years, there’s a little Majestic logo on the end of the sleeves. Baseball has never seen a giant swoosh blatantly on the front for all to see. When baseball fans see changes, slight or not, to their prized uniforms it doesn’t go down well. We could look back to when New Era put their logo on the side of MLB hats, which sparked an outrage within the baseball community. So, you could imagine the uproar when the first images of the jerseys with the Nike swoosh plastered all over uniforms. Why doesn’t Nike just move their logo to the end of the sleeves, like how Majestic had it? You’d have to ask them. Baseball fans took to Twitter to vent about this outrage. Part of it may be that they are trying to advertise by plastering their swoosh over America’s most viewed leagues. 

I’d have to admit, I love a good looking jersey. One thing I have liked that Nike has done is introduce more originality to certain teams. They have introduced more variety than just a simple home and away jersey. For example, the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers both had major redesigns in their logos and colors, and I’d have to say, their newly designed Nike jerseys look pretty nice. The Pittsburgh Pirates also received a new jersey, again adding to the diversity Nike offers. This was seen in the NBA too, with teams getting more jersey variety, like the Portland Trail Blazers 50 year anniversary jerseys.

This is all just talking about jersey production in these three leagues too. Excluding college football, which Nike produced 61.2% of jerseys for, college basketball, basketball shoes, baseball and football cleats, and numerous other accessories. So, why hasn’t there been any  action?