Reds partner with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for Players’ Weekend cleat artwork

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Cincinnati Reds are collaborating on a Players’ Weekend tradition that blends baseball with creativity. Patients at Cincinnati Children’s decorated cleats for Reds players to wear during MLB’s annual Players’ Weekend, running August 21-23. The effort is designed to let the game’s color and character show up in a different way, with artwork created by children who are far removed from the usual spotlight of professional sports.

The Reds’ involvement builds on a prior relationship with Cincinnati Children’s for the same theme. MLB’s Players’ Weekend is intended to give players a chance to express themselves, and the hospital collaboration supports that idea by putting imagination at the center of the design process. For the Reds, it marks the third year of this specific partnership connected to the event, with the hospital community taking part in the look that fans will see on cleats across the three-day stretch.

While MLB Players’ Weekend is known for its visual identity on jerseys and gear, the Reds’ project makes the statement more personal. The cleats being decorated are not simply decorative props, they are a wearable canvas that will connect the hospital experience to the major league stage. In practical terms, that means the artwork created in a clinical setting will be translated into the on-field equipment Reds players use during Games that weekend.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has a long history of community outreach and child-focused programs, and the Reds’ decision to route part of Players’ Weekend through that environment reflects a broader theme in sports events: making attention matter beyond the competition. The partnership also reinforces the idea that personality in baseball is not limited to what happens during at-bats or defensive plays.

Players’ Weekend itself is organized by MLB as an annual window where individuality is elevated, with teams and players leaning into distinctive style. For fans, cleats are one of the most visible pieces of equipment that remain in view when players run, pivot, and dig in for infield and base-running responsibilities. By turning the design of those cleats into a community art project, the Reds are giving the event an additional layer that extends past the broadcast graphics and pregame introductions.

As August 21-23 approach, the key storyline to watch is how the hospital-created designs look when they hit the field for Reds players during MLB’s Players’ Weekend. The larger question is whether projects like this become a model for other clubs seeking ways to tie league branding to local organizations, rather than treating outreach as a one-off ceremony.