Why Do Athletes Wear Eye Black?

Eye black — the dark strips or grease marks under athletes' eyes — is one of baseball's most recognizable visual traditions. Babe Ruth was among the first known users in the 1930s, and the practice has spread across baseball, football, softball, and lacrosse. But it's not just tradition or style. Eye black serves a functional purpose: it reduces glare reflected off the cheekbones and improves contrast sensitivity.

Here's how it works, what the science says, and the best products available.

How Eye Black Reduces Glare

Your cheekbones reflect sunlight upward into your eyes. This reflected glare washes out your vision and forces squinting — both of which make it harder to track a baseball traveling at 80-90+ mph. Eye black absorbs that reflected light instead of bouncing it into your eyes.

The principle is simple: dark surfaces absorb light, light surfaces reflect it. By darkening the skin directly below your eyes, you eliminate a significant source of peripheral glare. The result is improved contrast — the ball, field markings, and other visual details appear sharper and more defined against the sky and stadium lights.

This matters most in daytime outdoor games where the sun is at an angle that creates strong cheekbone reflections — late afternoon games are particularly affected. It's the same reason photographers use matte black lens hoods: you eliminate stray reflected light to get a cleaner image. Your eyes work the same way.

The effect is strongest for athletes with lighter skin tones, since lighter skin reflects more light. Darker skin already absorbs more light naturally, so the contrast improvement from eye black is smaller — though many dark-skinned athletes still use it for the incremental benefit and the psychological edge.

The Science Behind Eye Black

A study from the University of New Hampshire tested eye black's actual effectiveness. The findings:

• Grease eye black measurably reduced glare and improved contrast sensitivity compared to a control group
• Sticker eye black showed less improvement than grease — the adhesive surface doesn't absorb light as effectively as matte grease
• Anti-glare stickers (the shiny, commercial kind) performed worst, barely better than nothing

The takeaway: traditional grease eye black works. The matte, light-absorbing surface genuinely reduces reflected glare. Stickers work to a lesser degree. The effect is modest but real — in a sport where milliseconds of ball recognition matter, any legitimate visual advantage counts.

What the study didn't find: eye black doesn't improve visual acuity (how sharply you see), reaction time, or depth perception. What it does is reduce the "noise" — the washed-out, squinting effect of cheekbone glare — so your existing vision performs closer to its best. Think of it as removing a distraction rather than adding a superpower.

History of Eye Black

Babe Ruth started the practice in the 1930s using burnt cork or grease mixed with ash — whatever was available in the dugout. The crude formula worked because any dark, matte substance absorbs light effectively.

Modern eye black uses skin-safe formulations: beeswax, charcoal, pigment, and moisturizing agents. The core function hasn't changed, but the products are gentler on skin and easier to apply and remove.

By the 1960s and 70s, eye black had become standard equipment for MLB outfielders, and football players adopted it soon after. What started as simple horizontal stripes has evolved into personal expression. Players now use eye black in custom designs, team patterns, and messages — combining function with the confidence boost that comes from looking game-ready.

The NFL banned players from writing messages on eye black stickers in 2010, after several players used them to display personal slogans and Bible verses during nationally televised games. The ban applies to messages only — plain black stickers and grease are still allowed.

Two Types of Eye Black

Roll-On / Grease Eye Black

Products like Rawlings Eye Black Stick and Wilson Sporting Goods Eye Black Stick apply like a lip balm or thick crayon. The grease formula creates a matte surface that absorbs light more effectively than stickers.

How to apply: Remove the cap and draw a single stripe under each eye along the cheekbone. Apply a thin, even layer — thick application doesn't absorb more light and smears more easily. Avoid contact with the eye itself.

How to remove: Wash with soap and water or a face cleanser like Cetaphil Daily Face Cleanser. Most formulas come off easily with warm water.

Lasts: 3-4 hours under normal conditions. May smear with heavy sweat. In hot, humid games you may need to reapply between innings — keep the stick in your dugout bag.

Sticker Eye Black

Products like Rawlings Eye Black Stickers and Sportstar Eye Black Stickers are adhesive strips that peel and stick to the cheekbone.

How to apply: Peel the sticker from the backing sheet and press it onto clean, dry skin under the eye near the outer edge. Press firmly to secure the adhesive. Don't apply directly against the eye.

How to remove: Peel off slowly. For stubborn adhesive residue, use soap and water or an adhesive remover like Goo Gone Bandage and Adhesive Remover.

Lasts: Full game length. More durable than grease in heavy sweat. However, stickers absorb slightly less glare than matte grease.

Grease vs. Stickers: Which Is Better?

For maximum glare reduction, grease is better. The matte surface absorbs more reflected light than the slightly glossy surface of adhesive stickers. The University of New Hampshire study confirmed this.

For convenience and durability, stickers are better. They don't smear with sweat, last the full game without reapplication, and are faster to apply. Many players prefer them despite the slightly lower glare reduction.

For the best of both: some players apply a thin grease layer first, then place a sticker on top. This gives the matte absorption of grease with the staying power of the adhesive.

Eye Black by Sport

Baseball and Softball

The original and most common use case. Outfielders benefit the most — tracking fly balls against bright sky is exactly the scenario where cheekbone glare hurts. Infielders use it less frequently since their primary field of vision is downward toward ground balls, but many still apply it for at-bats where they're looking up at the pitcher with the sun overhead.

Youth leagues generally allow eye black, though some have restrictions on sticker designs. Check your league rules before game day.

Football

Football is the second-most common sport for eye black. Wide receivers, defensive backs, and linebackers use it under their helmets. The helmet facemask already blocks some overhead sun, but cheekbone glare still reaches your eyes through the open face area. Eye black fills that gap.

Players in dome stadiums or night games sometimes still wear it — at that point it's more ritual than function, but the confidence factor is real.

Lacrosse and Other Outdoor Sports

Lacrosse players adopted eye black early, and it's common in college and professional play. Field hockey, soccer, and rugby players occasionally use it for day games, though it's less standard in those sports. Any outdoor sport where you're tracking a ball or opponent against bright sky can benefit from the glare reduction.

Eye Black vs. Sunglasses

Eye black and sunglasses solve different parts of the same problem. Eye black reduces glare from below — reflected light bouncing off your cheekbones upward into your eyes. Sunglasses reduce glare from above and the sides — direct sunlight hitting your eyes.

Neither replaces the other. An outfielder wearing sunglasses still gets cheekbone glare from below the lens. A player wearing eye black still gets direct sun in their eyes. Using both provides the most complete glare management, which is why many MLB outfielders wear sunglasses and eye black together.

For players who can't wear sunglasses (catchers, for example, because of the mask), eye black is the only glare reduction option available.

Eye Black and Superstition

For many athletes, eye black has become part of their game-day ritual. Like not stepping on the foul line, wearing the same undershirt, or following the same batting routine, applying eye black is a psychological anchor that signals "game mode."

Whether it's the measurable glare reduction, the confidence boost, or the feeling of looking game-ready — eye black has earned its place in baseball culture. It works, it looks right, and it connects modern players to a tradition that's nearly a century old. Sports psychology research consistently shows that pre-game rituals reduce anxiety and improve focus — even if the ritual itself has only a modest physical effect, the mental benefit is genuine.

Eye black is equally common in football, where players apply it under helmet visors for the same cheekbone glare reduction. For modern alternatives that block glare from above, our best football visors guide covers tinted and mirrored options. Glare management matters in any outdoor sport — anglers deal with intense surface reflection all day, and our fishing sunglasses guide explains how polarized lenses tackle that problem on the water.

For sunglasses that provide additional (and more comprehensive) glare protection, check our guide to the best baseball sunglasses.