In June, members of the San Francisco Giants created controversy for wearing hats emblazoned with Bible verses during the team’s Pride Night celebration. Tensions around players’ freedom of religious expression flared up again last month, thanks to photos of a particular shirt worn by players including JT Brubaker, Bryce Eldridge, Robby Ray, and Willy Adames.
The black shirts feature orange lettering that echoes the Giants’ logo, with the message “Jesus Won.”
Brubaker’s Jesus Won shirt sparked discourse online, especially on Reddit, where a number of Giants fans claimed there was a double standard of conservative or religious communities insisting that sports is no place for personal or political statements, while simultaneously demanding the right to spread a message of Christian faith during team time.
The Jesus Won shirt is the product of the fittingly named Jesus Won Apparel, a Phoenix-based company co-founded by Matt Palmer and Mark Daus.
Palmer started giving out shirts at the top of MLB spring training in 2023 with the hope that they would start conversations around faith “without saying a word,” he told Gazetteer SF. Since 2018, Palmer has served as a baseball chapel leader in Phoenix, working with both Major League and Minor League teams. That role puts him in proximity with many Christian players, including members of the Giants and the Texas Rangers.
Palmer recalled giving Jesus Won shirts to a “lot of guys in the minors” who went on to join the Giants, such as J.D. Davis and Patrick Bailey. He said he’s known Bryce Eldridge since the hitter was drafted by the Giants in 2023, and has worked with Brubaker, Ray, and former Giant Caleb Kilian.
In particular, Palmer credits a young Evan Carter, current center fielder for the Rangers, for helping kickstart the brand. He was one of the earliest fans of Jesus Won shirts; sales exploded when Carter got elevated to the majors in September 2023 and wore the shirt in public, sparking attention on Rangers social media and broadcasts.
“We had this idea that God put into our brains to do the shirts in team colors so they blend in with the facility, but the message would stand out,” Palmer said. “We had some interesting success online the weekend Evan got called up.”
The support surged again when the Rangers won the 2023 World Series, setting up Jesus Won for steady growth in the league and in other sports like college football. Palmer still travels to San Francisco regularly, including a visit earlier this year, and said that while he can’t give specific figures for Bay Area sales, “a good number” of shirts were shipped to San Francisco in 2026.
“With some of the publicity in June or so, sales definitely picked up a bit and we’ve seen more going out to the Bay Area,” Palmer said.
That “publicity” was the backlash against some members of the Giants who used Pride Night to broadcast their religious beliefs: Brubaker, Sam Hentges, Landen Roupp, and Ryan Walker altered their team-issued Pride caps by writing Bible verses or, in the case of Hentges, wore the non-Pride standard cap. The controversy led MLB officials to criticize the Giants’ policy on team dress and even triggered a Trump administration investigation into religious discrimination.
“In and around that time, we saw an uptick in people purchasing the design that looks similar to the Giants,” Palmer said.
As for the slogan, Palmer explained that it reflects how Jesus “won” by overcoming crucifixion, death, and sin.
“We come from a place of victory knowing that Jesus already defeated those things, everything that holds us back,” he said. “We’re not trying to strive for it. We get to come from victory every day.”
Perhaps that’s why Jesus Won Apparel is not just a clothing business, but more a ministry, Palmer said. Since its inception, Jesus Won Apparel has earned more than $550,000 and given money to a variety of churches, schools, and teams across the country. The nonprofit Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a close collaborator.
Palmer cited the Bible verse John 16:33, which recounts the moments after the Last Supper, as Jesus’ disciples wonder what comes next. “In verse 33, Jesus says, ‘Look, I’ve told you all this so you may have peace in me. In this life you will have trouble, but take heart, I’ve overcome the world,’” he said.
For Palmer, “The simplicity of ‘Jesus Won’ says everything about that verse.”
