Mets' Citi Field Patch Designed To Evoke Company's Branding

Commemorative Citi Field Patch Panned As Drab

The Mets will wear a patch on their uniform sleeves this season commerorating the inaugural season of Citi Field, and while MLB “forbids teams putting corporate names on uniforms, ... Citigroup wanted the patch to evoke the company's general branding," according to Tyler Kepner of the N.Y. TIMES. The Mets “did not object” to the request presented by their naming-rights partner, which is spending $400M over 20 years for the entitlement to the ballpark. The patch is a "variation of the official Citi Field logo," and Mets Exec VP/Business Operations Dave Howard said the patch is "compatible and consistent with Citigroup's overall branding and graphic design elements." Kepner notes the official Citi Field logo "has been widely panned as drab and too evocative of the Domino's Pizza logo." But fans will have to "get used to it, because it will be affixed to the side of every other seating row at the ballpark and used extensively in marketing and promotions, assuming the Citi name survives" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/15).

A PATCHWORK ORANGE: ESPN.com’s Paul Lukas wrote, “This is the worst sleeve patch in MLB history.” Lukas: “The Mets' effort comes off looking like amateur hour. Or maybe amateur minute. It looks like one of those cheapo generic marks you see in commercials or movies when the producers couldn't afford the licensing fees for the real logos” (ESPN.com, 1/9). YAHOO SPORTS’ Kevin Kaduk wrote, “They could've held a coloring contest among preschoolers and still ended up with a better design than the one above” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/12).