Chicago becomes the latest MLB team to add a uniform sponsor, partnering with CME Group for the 2026 season.
For the first time in franchise history, the Chicago White Sox will have a sponsored patch on their jerseys for the 2026 season.
The club announced a partnership with CME Group — a Chicago-based derivatives marketplace — on Wednesday, signaling a deal to collaborate moving forward.
A jersey patch will be featured on every iteration of White Sox uniforms this season, though the placement and color of the patch will depend on which jersey is being worn.
A white CME logo with black lettering will appear on the left sleeve of the White Sox’s home pinstriped uniforms. The road grays will feature a blue logo on a gray background, with CME in black lettering. The logo will have a black background on both the MLB Nike City Connect jerseys and the alternate black uniforms.
The White Sox are a bit late to the party when it comes to including advertisements on their uniforms. That’s due in part to an extended search for a partner that “shares values and has a commitment to Chicago,” according to White Sox executive vice president and chief revenue and marketing officer Brooks Boyer (via Scott Merkin).
Ironically, it’s also due to how bad the White Sox have been. Three consecutive 100-loss seasons didn’t exactly inspire companies to jump into a partnership with the White Sox.
Losing is actually what kept advertisements off the jerseys for this long — which is ironic, given how opposed fans seem to be to the idea now.
And it’s no surprise. Slapping a corporate logo on sports uniforms never goes over well, especially when you’re dealing with an iconic and classically clean uniform like the White Sox have.
But I don’t think this is nearly as big of a deal as many White Sox fans will make it out to be.
There are already plenty of teams in Major League Baseball with corporate logos on their jerseys. That includes the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies — big-market teams with iconic and classic uniforms of their own. It also includes big spenders like the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and Atlanta Braves.
There are only a few teams in baseball that don’t currently have corporate patches on their uniforms. It’s something fans simply need to accept.
All you can really do is hope the company your team partners with has a logo that isn’t an eyesore and doesn’t carry a negative connotation — you know...like the name “Guaranteed Rate” paired with a logo that’s a massive, downward-pointing red arrow.
Clearly, the White Sox have gone down that slippery slope before. But I don’t think this is one of those examples.
The CME logo blends in just fine with the uniforms, and recoloring the logo to match the team’s palette was a smart move. Nothing really stands out here — and to me, that’s a good thing.
It’s not the bright red Nintendo patch slapped onto the Seattle Mariners’ turquoise uniforms.
This was inevitable at some point, and the biggest takeaway for me is that it’s another form of revenue coming in. The most optimistic view is that this new revenue stream allows the White Sox to increase spending on putting a competitive team on the field.
The more realistic view is that the money won’t be reinvested into the on-field product at all — and that this patch becomes a complete non-factor that’s forgotten about in a few years.
The patch may stand out when you’re watching White Sox baseball in 2026. But you’ll quickly learn to ignore it and focus on the far more consequential, bigger picture.