A relatively unknown commercial insurance company landed a spot on arguably the most iconic uniform in sports in a record deal that raises new questions about the jersey patch market.

On Wednesday, the New York Yankees unveiled an expanded deal with Starr Insurance, a team sponsor since 2018. Starting July 21, the New York-based company will become the team’s first jersey patch partner through 2031.

Industry sources pegged the deal’s annual value at around $25 million, which easily surpasses other MLB jersey patch deals, which generally range from $5 million to $17 million per year.

A year ago, the Yankees appointed Legends — the global hospitality and sales entity it co-owns with majority partner Sixth Street Partners and the Dallas Cowboys — to sell the jersey patch. Instead of landing an expected deal with a premium brand, the Yankees chose Starr, a global insurance and investment entity operating on six continents — but hardly a household name.

Swing And A Miss?

Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner called Starr “the right company” for this deal, but early social media reaction among fans is negative — unsurprising given their deep emotional attachment to the team’s legendary pinstripes.

A glut of jersey patch inventory remains available. While the NBA — the first of the four major U.S. pro leagues to embrace jersey patches — has 26 team deals, only 12 MLB teams and 13 in the NHL have patches. 

Many teams have been unable to meet financial or brand targets amid broader concerns about the U.S. economy.

After weeks of speaking dismissively and even sarcastically about the perceived lack of a viable stadium proposal or fan support in Oakland, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is still referring to the A’s current home in the past tense, saying this week, “We didn’t find a solution to keep the A’s in Oakland. That’s No. 1 on the disappointment list.”

But that hasn’t stopped Manfred from continuing to meet with Oakland city officials.

During the league’s now-concluded All-Star Game events in Seattle, Manfred met with Oakland mayor Sheng Thao, who sought to counter Manfred’s assertion that there was never a solid stadium proposal from Bay Area officials.

The meeting, at Thao’s request, happened as the A’s still plan to move to Las Vegas and also search for an interim home for the 2025-27 seasons. Thao presented Manfred and each team owner with an extensive document outlining Oakland’s two-site stadium and development proposal for Howard Terminal and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum property.

“Until there is an actual shovel in the ground in Las Vegas, we will not stop trying to keep the team where they belong — in Oakland,” Thao said in a letter to Manfred that was part of the presented document.

Meeting Makes Sense

Despite Manfred’s prior comments, his move to continue some level of talks with Oakland is not surprising — it’s in MLB’s best interest to maintain open dialogue.  

Not only do numerous hurdles still need to be cleared before the A’s move to Nevada is finalized, but MLB continually needs cooperation from civic leaders near each franchise on a wide range of issues, particularly related to facilities, regulation, and special events.

The free online trivia game that has taken baseball fans by storm this summer will soon be expanding to additional sports under its new owner, Sports Reference.

Immaculate Grid sees 200,000 users most weekdays, challenging them to name players that match metrics like their teams or their notable stats. Seen as the “Wordle of baseball” — playing off the popular game acquired by the New York Times for more than $1 million last year — it was created in April by Brian Minter, a software engineer from Atlanta.

Last month, Winter approached Sports Reference — owner of Baseball Reference and other similar data sites — as he looked for a company to acquire his game. “There were other talks, but they were certainly No. 1,” Winter told Front Office Sports.

With Immaculate Grid now integrated into Sports Reference’s website, the company plans to add new sports like football, basketball, hockey, and soccer to the game by the end of this month. 

“We’ve tried to implement it in a way that easily expands to our other sports,” Sports Reference president Sean Forman told FOS. “I’m confident we can do it pretty quickly.”

The price Sports Reference paid for Immaculate Grid wasn’t disclosed, but Forman is confident the deal will be a win for both the company and Winter. There are plans to place ad units on the game page and potentially offer special features under a subscription model — but Immaculate Grid will remain free to all and is already seen as a money maker. 

“It’s also driving a significant amount of traffic to our existing site, which we’ve gotten reasonably good at monetizing,” Foreman added.