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Phillies helmets will feature ads on the side during the playoffs. Big ones.

Helmet logos are just the latest bit of expanded advertising on MLB uniforms, which started with jersey patches like the Phillies debuted this season.

The Phillies already have jersey sponsors. Starting in October, they'll have them on their helmets as well.
The Phillies already have jersey sponsors. Starting in October, they'll have them on their helmets as well.Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

Well, Philadelphia. The Phillies will have ads on their batting helmets in the playoffs, alongside every other MLB team who qualifies.

German workwear company Strauss’ logo will appear on every team’s batting helmet in the postseason through 2027, in addition to European games (like the London Series, which the Phillies played in June), and Minor League Baseball games, starting in 2025.

For teams with red helmets, like the Phillies, Strauss’ ostrich logo will be transparent and appear inside a white box with the company’s name next to it. On all other colored helmets, it will be a red box with a white logo.

The helmet logos are just the latest bit of expanded advertising into MLB uniforms, following the jersey patches which were first approved in the 2022 collective bargaining agreement and have been steadily rolled out by teams starting in 2023. The Phillies revealed their jersey ad in July, with insurance company Independence Blue Cross sponsoring the team’s uniforms. Currently, 23 of 30 MLB teams have a jersey patch partner.

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They’re also part of a larger trend in North American sports toward advertising on jerseys. MLS was the first North American league to approve jersey ads, back in 2007, but ads on soccer jerseys are very common internationally, even in major leagues like the Premier League and La Liga.

The WNBA has allowed for jersey ads since 2011. The NBA approved jersey patches in 2017, but so far has not expanded past a small corner on the right side of the jersey. The NHL approved helmet ads in 2021 as the league recovered from the pandemic, and jersey patches soon followed in 2022. The NFL is the only major American pro sports league not using advertising on helmets or jerseys, but does allow for practice jersey patch partners.

So far, helmet ads will only be coming to postseason games, plus the few special exceptions. But the option for regular season helmet ads remains a possibility going forward.