Nike Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities “Nike RBI”, is Major League Baseball’s youth outreach program that provides administrative, programmatic and infrastructural resources and support for organizations that provide baseball and/or softball programming with a focus on underserved kids and communities across the globe. Nike RBI has hundreds of organizations that annually affiliate with the program ranging from MLB Clubs, MiLB Clubs, Park & Recreation Departments, Boys & Girls Clubs, School Districts and other independent non-profit organizations.
Nike RBI will be entering its 36th year of play in 2024 and from its inception in 1989 through the 2023 season, Nike RBI has grown from a local program for 180 boys in South Central Los Angeles to an international campaign encompassing more than 200 cities and provides more than 100,000 male and female participants annually the opportunity to play baseball and/or softball.
In 1989, John Young, a former Major League Baseball player and scout, developed the concept of RBI to provide disadvantaged 13-to-16-year-olds a comprehensive opportunity to learn and enjoy the game of baseball. The program not only encouraged participation in baseball and to expand the pool of talented prospects, but, more importantly, provide young people with a positive, team-oriented activity that would keep them off the streets while challenging them mentally and physically. Major League Baseball endorsed the RBI concept and provided financial support for the program, as did the Los Angeles Dodgers and the City of Los Angeles. While the youth of Los Angeles were initially a little skeptical -- only 11 showed up for the first tryout -- they gradually began to embrace RBI, and 180 kids participated the first season.
In 1991, Major League Baseball took over administration of the RBI program and still serves as the central administrative office today. Since the inception of the program, Major League Baseball and its Clubs have designated more than $35 million worth of resources to the program at both the national and local level that include but not limited to financial support, equipment donations, capital improvement projects, scholarships, player, parent and coach workshops, organization infrastructure and more.
In 2007, Major League Baseball Charities, Inc., established the RBI (Runs Batted In) for RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner-Cities) Scholarship Fund to help provide financial assistance to youth who participate in the Nike RBI program and wish to pursue secondary education. The RBI for RBI Scholarship provides annual scholarships of up to $5,000 for four years to up to 12 Nike RBI student-athletes who demonstrate academic achievement, leadership qualities and financial need. Since 2008, the RBI for RBI Scholarship program has helped more than 100 Nike RBI student-athletes to enroll in prestigious institutions of higher learning across the country, including: Columbia University, Citadel University, Morehouse College (HBCU), Tuskegee University (HBCU), UCLA, University of Florida, Bucknell University, James Madison University and Wittenberg University.
In 2023, Nike came on as the second presenting sponsor of RBI in the program’s history and is now Nike Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, “Nike RBI”. In 2023, there were more than 180 affiliated Nike RBI organizations from Major and Minor League Clubs, Boys & Girls Clubs, Park & Recreation Departments and other independent non-profit organizations that served more than 110,000 youth participants anywhere from the ages five to 18.