Shohei Ohtani will wear New Balance cleats and apparel in 2023 and into the future, according to the Boston company, which announced a “long-term” partnership with one of baseball’s living icons on Tuesday.
New Balance did not say whether Shohei would get a signature shoe, or how much the partnership pays Shohei each year. Nevertheless, its refreshing to see New Balance steal Shohei away from Asics, a Japanese company that always made beautiful cleats, turfs, batting gloves, guards, bats and fielding gloves for Shohei, but did not market baseball products in the USA.
New Balance, on the other hand, will hopefully be planning some product launches for Shohei. In fact, they are launching a limited edition cleat version of a street shoe, the 574, “to celebrate the partnership.” According to the release, the 574 cleat will launch in February at www.newbalance.com with the suggested retail price starting at $120… you may want to check NB’s baseball landing page now, just in case.
Meanwhile, Shohei looks like he’s wearing similar cleats to the above Fresh Foam X 3000 V6 Metal, $100 at Dick’s.
While his bat and fielding gloves may be coming from other brands in those respective categories, you can expect everything else, including the cleats, turfs, batting gloves, and guards to be New Balance.
“As I continue my journey in baseball I am excited to join the New Balance family,” says Shohei. “New Balance is a global brand that is known for having incredible product innovation but also for being an authentic brand who allows their athletes to be themselves. I am excited to join with them to change the game.”
What do you think about Shohei Ohtani wearing New Balance? Please comment below — we read them all!
I love the fact that New Balance was able to sign him. What I don’t like is New Balance only makes spikes, cleats and turf baseball shoes that are no wider than 2E. I thought New Balance was all about making athletic shoes in wide widths?
Hm that’s a good point. I’d love to hear from someone with wider feet. I’m not in that boat so I don’t really know for sure what the solution is. I feel like some Mizunos (9-spike) have felt wider to me.
The NB 540 cleats look like old man shoes no pizzaz. Lets kick it up with more color