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SALT LAKE CITY — A big change is coming to the Salt Lake Bees in 2025 and no it's not just a new stadium.
Major League Baseball announced Friday that it has reached a multi-year international partnership with the German-based workwear company Strauss, allowing the company to place its logo on major and minor league helmets beginning with Major League Baseball's upcoming postseason.
All 120 Minor League Baseball clubs scattered across the country will also sport the logo on their helmets beginning in 2025, including the Bees, as a part of the deal. It marks the first-ever sponsorship placement on the Bees' everyday uniform.
"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's deputy commissioner of business and media.
Terms of the deal weren't disclosed and wasn't immediately clear if any part of the sponsorship money will trickle down to minor league club owners. The Associated Press reported that the deal will run through at least 2027.
Logos on sports uniforms have become increasingly common in the U.S. The Utah Jazz, for example, began wearing a sponsorship patch for the first time in 2017.
In Major League Baseball's case, it began allowing teams to place jersey patches on the sleeves of uniforms last year.
The practice hasn't reached the Bees, but the team also recently participated in a more unique sponsorship. It transformed into the Malmö Oat Milkers for its game on Sept. 3 as a part of a deal between MLB and the Swedish oat milk company Oatly. Every minor league team in the country played as the Oat Milkers this season.
It wasn't clear if the team will play as the Oat Milkers again next season, but the Bees will now have a regular jersey sponsor for the first time when they run onto Daybreak Field at America First Square.
