Are MLB Tats Gone Forever? (2024)

Unlike the NFL and NBA, Major League Baseball will be able to avoid a lockout and keep playing beyond the length of the current collective bargaining agreement.

The new CBA will come into place in 2012 and include some major changes: more replays, the Astros joining the American League West, perpetual interleague play and a rule banning certain tattoos.

Under the Uniform Regulations section of the CBA, it says, “No player may have any visible markings or logos tattooed on his body.” It means that players can’t get tattoos of corporate logos, presumably for profit.

At least that’s the way that MLB executive vice president for labor relations Rob Manfred says it.

At first glance it seems like a bit of a ridiculous rule for Major League Baseball to implement, but the way that Manfred makes it out to be, it is a logical step. The top soccer league in Europe, the English Premiere League, has been sponsored since 1993 and is currently known as Barclay’s Premiere League. Teams within the league have sponsorships with companies and prominently display their logos on their chest, such as the “Fly Emirates” logo on the red and white jerseys of Arsenal.

This custom has spread from throughout Europe and is slowly making its way to the United States. All but five of the soccer clubs in Major League Soccer sells sponsorships for their shirts, just like in Europe. In 2009, the NBA and NFL made the decision to allow teams to sell ad space on practice jerseys while the WNBA started letting teams sell ad space on their game jerseys. In 2011, the Toronto Maple Leafs became the first NHL team to sell ad space on their practice jerseys.

While Major League Baseball hasn’t followed the rest of the major sports leagues in doing so, the next step for these leagues is to go the way of European soccer teams and sell ad space on game jerseys that is bigger than the team logo. No one knows what league could make that huge move next, but it could be any of them.

So where does this leave the players? They sign endorsem*nt deals for cleats, gloves, bats and more. If they are approached with a lifetime endorsem*nt that entails getting a tattoo, why wouldn’t you seriously consider the offer? You would always be getting money for having a tattoo of the company on you for essentially being a walking billboard—just for having some ink on you. So many players, such as Josh Hamilton, Prince Fielder, Matt Kemp and Brian Wilson, already have tattoos—how could another one hurt?

But before simply dismissing this new addition to the CBA, let’s take a look at the last collective bargaining agreement that began in 2007 and ended at the conclusion of the 2011 season.

In that CBA, it states, "No player may have any visible corporate markings or logos tattooed on his body."

While it looks very similar to the current wording in the new CBA, there is one word that could potentially change everything. The current CBA omits the word “corporate” when talking about visible markings. If you were to take the current phrasing of the rule word for word, it would seemingly mean that in addition to a ban on tattoos of corporate logos, there is also a ban on any visible tattoo, regardless of it’s meaning or affiliation.

Does that mean that MLB could go after every player in the league that has a visible tattoo? I guess we’ll find out when Ryan Roberts takes the field for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

So far, no one is talking about the rule like that. Even Manfred is only mentioning the corporate aspect, saying that MLB is, “just trying to head something off at the pass.” But why is it such a big deal in the media then? Under the previous collective bargaining agreement, players weren’t allowed to have tattoos of corporate logos, either. It just doesn’t seem to add up.

At the end of the day, it is unlikely that this will deter players from getting tattoos. For better or for worse, tattoos have become a staple in today’s pop culture and athletes are a part of that pop culture. Until Major League Baseball decides to actually suspend a player for having a visible tattoo, they are here to stay.

Or at least until the next CBA comes along.