Next season, Major League Baseball will begin to allow jersey patch deals for teams to sell, and it looks like the New York Yankees are working with Legends, a company in which the team owns a stake, to manage the search. Chris Hibbs, president of Legends’ Global Partnerships division, said the Yankees are looking to sign a multi-year deal with a sponsor.
According to estimates, Major League Baseball could reportedly generate a combined $350 million to $400 million annually through the sponsor patches for an average of up to $13.3 million per team. In 2021, MLB brought in $1.13 billion in corporate sponsorships; numbers for 2022 have not been reported yet.
But the Yankees would likely get much more than the average, considering their presence in the nation’s largest media and financial market, storied history (27 World Series titles), and current success as they have an MLB-best 61-26 record.
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It’s a bit unclear how much value the 27-time World Series Champions New York Yankees are looking to get from the patch deal; however, the Yankees have last been valued at $6 billion according to a recent Forbes valuation. [The MLB average franchise value is $2.07 billion.] In a recent Forbes article, it was reported that “Legends has agreed only to work with the Yankees, eschewing any overtures from other clubs. Hibbs is leading the Yankees’ assignment with colleagues Dan Migala, co-president and chief revenue officer of Legends Global Technology Solutions; Doug Smoyer, senior vice president at Legends Global Partnerships; and Chris Foy, executive vice president at Legends Global Partnerships. They will be partnering with several Yankees executives, including Michael J. Tusiani, the organization’s senior vice president of partnerships.”
Also according to Forbes, “The patches will be 4-by-4 inches on the right or left sleeve of players’ uniforms. In April, the San Diego Padres became the first MLB club to announce a jersey patch, signing a contract with Motorola.”
