Nintendo are no strangers to unique marketing and advertisements, and ahead of Switch 2 they’ve landed a major deal with Major League Baseball club Seattle Mariners to advertise on their jerseys. Both the developer and the team have a long history together which is being renewed ahead of what could be the biggest console launch in years.
The Mariners Have “Leveled Up” Their Jerseys, But Some Fans Don’t Love the Nintendo Ads
The Mariners announced today that they will sport advertisements for Nintendo on their jersey sleeves, starting with the upcoming season. At home games, the Mariners will wear red rectangular Nintendo logo patches on their white jerseys. At away games, a larger patch advertising the Nintendo Switch 2 will be worn.
The announcement today mentions the “long-standing relationship” between Nintendo and the Mariners, and long-time baseball fans will know that Nintendo chairman Hiroshi Yamauchi led a group of Seattle-based businessman in buying the team in 1992. In 2004, Yamauchi sold his 54% stake to Nintendo of America, making the company the majority owners. They would retain majority ownership until 2016, when the company sold most of its shares but retained a 10% ownership share.
While the patches advertising Nintendo and Switch 2 invoke some historical significance, the reaction from Mariners fans online are substantially negative. Fans on X and the official Mariners subreddit are upset with how large the patches are, especially the Switch 2 one, and how the red doesn’t match the team’s color scheme. There’s been a wider resistance towards advertisements on jerseys in baseball overall, since sponsor patches were approved in 2023.
The Switch 2 is expected to launch later this year at around $400, though several Japanese analysts believe that a higher price won’t stop Nintendo from selling “boatloads” in the first few months.
What do you make of the Nintendo sponsor patches on MLB jerseys? Let us know down below, and join more discussions in the official Insider Gaming forums.
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