NEW YORK -- Billy Joel performed sold-out shows in his home state at Yankee Stadium in 1990. Elton John brought the house down at Dodger Stadium in 1975 at the height of his powers. Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blares through the Yankee Stadium public-address system after every Yankees win.
Concerts and baseball stadiums are part of the same universe. And thanks to one clothing brand rooted in the intersection of these two entities, a new collection of gear will have a long-term home.
On Thursday, the MLB Flagship Store hosted an event in partnership with the clothing company Sportiqe to kick off a new “shop-in-shop” section featuring MLB-branded Sportiqe apparel. The clothing on display features mostly New York-centric pieces of Sportiqe’s “Center Field Collection,” including Sinatra and Joel-branded Yankees and Mets gear.
For Thursday’s event, influencers, friends of Sportiqe and other guests were invited to shop the collection while sipping on coffee and munching on PopUp bagels fittingly served in miniature baseball helmets. The Sportiqe “shop-in-shop” will be in the MLB Store for at least the next two years.
For Sportiqe founder Jason Franklin, who has also produced clothing in partnership with the NBA and other sports leagues, it was essential that MLB-related gear have its own umbrella within his brand, separated from the other sports.
“There's something special about being able to stand on a baseball field and watch a concert,” Franklin said. “Like, ‘Wow, I've been here before and I've seen baseball players on here, but I've never gotten to go on the field. And now I'm watching my favorite band, and I'm standing on the field to watch them.’ That is a magical moment for people, so I had to call it Center Field. It had to have its own moment.”
Franklin was raised in the Chicago area, loving all things Bulls and Cubs while frequenting Wrigley Field growing up, so Wrigley has a prominent role across his brand identity. Sportiqe has designed many items in its “Night of the Show” collection to commemorate artists performing at Wrigley, including Mumford & Sons and comedian John Mulaney earlier this year.
As Franklin looked around on Thursday morning, seeing his clothing with the iconic backdrop of Radio City Music Hall – where Sinatra, one of his brand’s muses, once performed – across the street, his emotions kicked into a higher gear.
“It was so special for me to sit at Wrigley Field with Dad and my grandpa,” he said, smiling and fighting back tears. “So this is a dream come true for me.”
Also featured in Thursday’s event were Marc Roberge and Jon Lampley of the band O.A.R. They go way back with Franklin – O.A.R. was the second band that Sportiqe collaborated with almost 20 years ago, after Dave Matthews Band. In his introductory remarks, Franklin called O.A.R “family” to him.
“We’ve had such a long history with Jason Franklin and Sportiqe,” Lampley said. “Reconnecting to celebrate our music and their vision at the MLB store in NYC felt like a full-circle moment!”
The Rockville, Md., band has a natural baseball connection, having written a custom song for the Nationals’ 2025 City Connect jersey release titled “Our Diamond, Our District.” They also performed in the Nats’ 2025 postgame concert series. In their MLB Network interview, both Roberge and Lampley touted their baseball fandom, with Roberge describing himself as a Yankees fan (eliciting cheers from the NYC crowd) and Lampley citing his longtime love for the Guardians.
To cap the first of Sportiqe’s “Morning Sessions” and bring the brand’s music-sports marriage to life, the O.A.R. bandmates played an acoustic set in the MLB Store that was open to guests and the public. In a nod to one of the main artists featured in Sportiqe’s latest MLB collaboration, they mixed in Joel’s “The Downeaster ‘Alexa’” with their original songs.
One of the band’s biggest hits is called “I Feel Home,” which fits in perfectly with Franklin’s mission for Sportiqe. He values the strong ties that baseball fans feel with their home stadiums, whether they’re catching a game or a concert there. His vision for Sportiqe extends far beyond the MLB Store’s walls, as he hopes to keep connecting legacy artists with legendary stadium venues in his future work.
“As long as we stay true to our mission of making sure that it means something to the fan,” Franklin said, “that that artist means something to that city, to that venue, and when you stay on that path, it still is endless of what we can bring to fan bases around the United States to MLB stadiums everywhere.”