While uniform sponsors have long played a prominent role in international sports, the American sports landscape is gradually seeing more and more advertising appear on uniforms. In baseball, there have been jersey sleeve sponsors for a few seasons now.

But MLB waited until the postseason to make a significant change to the league.

When the NL and AL wild card series started on Tuesday, fans noticed that all the batting helmets on both sides had a huge “STRAUSS” advertisement. This was apparently a partnership between Major League Baseball and the German workwear brand that was finalized in September. But unless you were paying attention to MLB press releases, Tuesday was the first time many fans saw the sponsored helmets.

MLB – especially under the leadership of Rob Manfred – has never been one to pass on money quickly. We remember the FTX debacle where the scandal-ridden, now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange had its logo on all referee uniforms. So we shouldn’t be surprised that Manfred would let a brand with minimal recognition in the US put it on helmets in the sport’s biggest games.

According to Sportico, the placement could generate $15 million in brand awareness.

But it was safe to say that MLB fans were not thrilled with the sponsored helmets.

This was how Twitter/X responded

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This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why MLB Teams Have STRAUSS Ads on Their Helmets During the World Series