When pictures of the Boston Red Sox's new 2026 home uniforms started making the rounds on social media this week, fans were quick to point out that the new threads didn't look right.
Upon closer inspection, the Red Sox's new jerseys appeared to have wider piping than last year's jerseys. However, the team name letters hadn't been moved to accommodate that change, resulting in crowding and overlap between the letters and the piping.
Boston fans were quick to blame Fanatics, which has an exclusive licensing deal with MLB and produces all of the league's official jerseys. Fans have criticized the declining quality and rising costs of Fanatics' merchandise in recent years, especially earlier this month when there was a severe shortage of New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks jerseys available ahead of Super Bowl LX.
On Wednesday, the Red Sox addressed the issue with a statement on the team's X account. After deleting their original post, they provided an updated statement that appeared to take some of the blame off of Fanatics.
A statement regarding our 2026 uniforms: pic.twitter.com/x9VMZQlerJ
— Red Sox (@RedSox) February 18, 2026
"As part of Major League Baseball's return to the 2023 jersey template, we approved a design for our home white jerseys, which Fanatics produced exactly to our specs. Once they were produced and seen in person, we felt there should be more spacing between the lettering and piping. In collaboration with MLB and Fanatics, we're adjusting the home whites to achieve this separation. The updated jerseys will be ready for Opening Day. We are grateful to our partners for their ongoing support."
The team provided additional context in a follow-up statement.
"To be clear, the original design was selected by the Red Sox. Fanatics executed to our specifications and has been an outstanding partner throughout. They deserve no blame and we are grateful to them for making the new jerseys in time for Opening Day."
Fortunately, it sounds like Fanatics will be able to resolve the issue by Opening Day, which is still over a month away. While the mistake already went viral and caused a fair amount of backlash, at least there's still plenty of time to fix it before the season starts.
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