By looking at the 2025 MLB season as a case study, we can see what sponsorship strategies actually deliver results. The latest MLB Sponsorship Intelligence Report from SponsorUnited sheds light on the tactics and data-backed decisions that fueled the league's record-breaking $2.05B in team sponsorship revenue — up 9% year over year and 68% since 2022.

Using SponsorUnited's proprietary SPND pricing data and real-time asset tracking, the report identifies how teams and brands are adapting to a fast-changing sponsorship economy — and where marketers can find new growth opportunities. From that analysis, we've distilled four key lessons marketers can apply right now to make their partnerships more effective and data-driven.

1. Patches are prime real estate and brands are building their strategy around them.

MLB's jersey patch market has boomed past $200M in total deal cost, with 28 of 30 teams now featuring a patch partner—five of which joined for the first time in 2025. What began as an inventory rollout in 2023, with just over half the league participating, has become a league-wide marketing powerhouse. The quick adoption highlights how brands are viewing baseball's long 162-game season, daily exposure, and increased fanbase as the ideal environment to build sustained visibility.

Across all patch deals, teams are averaging around 26 sponsorship assets per partner, proving brands aren't limiting their investment to jersey exposure alone. They're complementing the patch with integrated assets—from broadcast features and in-stadium signage to community activations and social media collaborations—to reinforce storytelling and unique branding. The range in number of assets for each deal (3 to 70) shows that brands are tailoring activations to match strategic objectives—some opting for lean, high-impact visibility, while others go broad with multi-touchpoint engagement.

2. The smartest spenders diversify across multiple teams.

The five highest-spending brands in MLB — Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Toyota, AB InBev, and Molson Coors — aren't just buying reach; they're strategically scaling across team partnerships, allocating anywhere from a quarter to over half of their total sports budgets to baseball.

Bank of America committed over half its total sports budget to MLB, leveraging Opening Week as a national showcase while deepening team-level hospitality and community programs — a model for maximizing cross-market consistency.

Coca-Cola has kept baseball hyper-local: at Citi Field, the Coca-Cola Food Truck program rotated Queens small businesses all season, while the Giants refreshed the iconic Coca-Cola Bottle at Oracle Park with new features and lighting—both moves that turn static branding into repeatable fan interactions. 

Toyota activated around “moments that travel,” from the Brewers' Land Cruiser Home Run sweepstakes (a vehicle-as-prize, scoreboard-triggered mechanic) to Giants promotions and on-site festival tie-ins—smart ways to convert game action into product storytelling. 

AB InBev leveraged its category depth and history by rolling out 17 club-specific Budweiser cans for 2025 (merch-meets-memorabilia) and tapping into marquee events with heritage creative—evidence of a brewer using MLB as a year-round platform, not just a pour right. 

Molson Coors maintained strong team ties—e.g., continuing as Official Light Beer of the Royals—while leaning into responsible-drinking programming through TEAM Coalition across MLB venues, reinforcing brand equity and compliance in a regulated category.

3.The savviest brands find growth by seeking nimble, innovative partners — not just the biggest ones. 

Baseball's partnership stories aren't confined to the biggest markets, biggest budgets, or best records — they're built by brands and teams willing to innovate and stick to their objective. Whether it's unlocking new markets, media channels, or cultural crossovers, the smartest partnerships find growth in motion, here were the top growing teams by revenue increase (%) year-over-year:

Oakland Athletics - With their Las Vegas Tourism jersey patch debuting in 2025, the A's turned relocation into a storytelling platform. By linking with a destination brand, they transformed “transition” into “anticipation” — illustrating how new markets can reframe a team's identity and open untapped brand categories.

St. Louis Cardinals - The Cardinals' resurgence came through media reinvention by means of a new multi-year broadcast deal with Diamond Sports reestablished regional visibility, while the launch of the Bet365 Bridge integrated legalized sports betting into fan engagement. 

Minnesota Twins - A first-ever Securian Financial jersey patch anchored a year of new inventory, supported by multi-surface visibility from brands like Progressive across bullpen and backstop placements. The Twins show how layering new and traditional assets can amplify ROI without overspending.

Colorado Rockies - By selling their first York Space Systems jersey patch and adding 33% new deals in a single season, the Rockies demonstrated that smart storytelling — in this case, linking Colorado's aerospace economy with local pride — can turn a mid-market team into a modern tech partnership hub.

Seattle Mariners - Fresh off a deep playoff run, the Mariners expanded through cultural resonance. Their Nintendo jersey patch and renewed deals with Funko and Sato Pharmaceutical bridged fandom, nostalgia, and collectibles — positioning the team as a cross-generational brand platform rather than just a sports property.

4. Player power is driving baseball's next wave of brand value.

Whether it's global icons, local heroes, or breakout rookies, players are now growth engines for brands. Tracking social engagement, cultural resonance, and authentic storytelling isn't just smart scouting — it's how brands stay ahead of the next wave of influence in baseball.

Potential NL MVP Shohei Ohtani continues to be baseball's global anchor, adding 1.5M new followers this season and proving that cross-market icons can turn athletic excellence into worldwide brand equity. Meanwhile, potential AL MVP Cal Raleigh showed that authenticity sells — his viral “Big Dumper x Honey Bucket” partnership turned a local nickname into a national campaign, earning millions of views and a wave of new followers.

Tarik Skubal's breakout Cy Young season reminded brands that elite performance in a mid-market can still generate national relevance; his dominance and comeback story made him one of 2025's most marketable pitchers. Pete Crow-Armstrong, fueled by highlight-reel catches and a postseason push, became a social media darling — proving that viral moments and dynamic play can build fan affinity faster than any ad campaign.

Then there's Nick Kurtz, the cornerstone rookie who went 6-for-6 with four home runs in a single game this season — a performance that catapulted him into the national conversation and sent his follower count soaring. His rapid ascent is a lesson in spotting follower velocity early and is heightened by his team's eventual relocation: brands that move first can lock in authentic ambassadors before the rest of the market catches up.

The Takeaway

The 2025 MLB season wasn't just a banner year for baseball — it was a clear demonstration of how data, timing, and innovation drive sponsorship success. For brand marketers, the takeaway is simple: informed strategy outperforms instinct.

The playbook is written in the numbers. The question is how you'll apply it.

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