North America’s elite Major League Baseball (MLB) has become the latest competition to partner with designer clothing brand Fear of God.
The multi-year deal will see Fear of God produce co-branded apparel bearing names and brands of many of the league’s most prominent franchises, including the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees.
The collection will also be carried on the MLB official stores and Fanatics, the e-commerce giant that MLB is invested in (which has been a global partner of the league since 2016), as well as in select MLB physical stores and franchise stadium store locations.
In late 2024, Fear of God also partnered with basketball’s elite NBA and WNBA, creating capsule collections for both competitions in a similar deal.
The nascent brand is also partnered for a range of athleisure products with German sportswear heavyweight Adidas.
Like the rest of the US major leagues, merchandising is big business for MLB as sports jerseys have become much more of a fashion/lifestyle item, rather than simply a sportswear product, meaning it offers brands like Nike greater demand and subsequent opportunity for sales.
This effect bleeds over into fashion and associated branded merchandise, which attracts the eye of not just hardcore MLB fans, but wider demographics interested in the social appeal of MLB’s brand and its status as a fashion item.
In terms of exposure, the GlobalData Sport Business of Major League Baseball 2025 report found that MLB is ranked as the third most popular professional men's sports league in the United States.
With a combined social media following of 35.5 million, MLB surpasses both the NHL and MLS, maintaining its historic status as a quintessential American pastime, and Fear of God founder Jerry Lorenzo said the brand wishes to capitalize on in its collaboration.