It’s hard to be ubiquitous in Tokyo, one of the largest cities in the world, but Shohei Ohtani has found a way. The Los Angeles Dodgers star seems to be everywhere: on billboards, on products, in television ads and news and entertainment shows and, of course, on the field when his games are broadcast live in Japan.
Ohtani might play baseball 5,500 miles away, but one of the first things people see when they deplane at Haneda Airport, the city’s international gateway, is a photo of the superstar in an ad for green tea.
Leaving the airport, one sees Ohtani’s boyish image on vending machines, in convenience stores and wrapped around trains coursing through the city. Last week, when Ohtani and his team landed in Tokyo to prepare for two season-opening games against the Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers announced yet another sponsorship — with Hakkaisan Brewery, a sake distiller based in Japan.
Major League Baseball has had no shortage of stars over the years, but it has never seen a sensation like Ohtani, who is Japan’s answer to Babe Ruth, a rare player who can both pitch and hit at the highest level.
His return this month to Japan, where tickets to his games are going for as much as $10,000, has the feel of a coronation for a homegrown star who last season signed a record $700 million contract and helped the Dodgers win the World Series.
In sports, money often follows success, and Ohtani’s success has created a windfall for himself, the Dodgers and the league. Ohtani has about 20 active sponsorship deals at any time, like with the Japanese drugmaker Kowa and with New Balance, and the value of his deals spiked after he joined the Dodgers last season following six years with the Los Angeles Angels.
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Rob Manfred, the commissioner of M.L.B., who has overseen its international expansion, has encountered his share of stars in his nearly 30 years at the league. But Ohtani is a cut above.
“I’ve never seen anything at the level of excitement for Ohtani,” he said in an interview.
Ohtani, 30, is a marketer’s dream — a sports icon, pop star and national hero rolled into one. As the Dodgers made their way to Japan ahead of a pair of games with the Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday, news programs tracked the team’s charter flight across the Pacific Ocean, and fans speculated about whether Ohtani had brought his spaniel, Decoy. Talk shows dissected Ohtani’s diet, fashion choices and home décor, as well as his wife’s hobbies.
“Right now, Ohtani is the thing that fills me with the most spirit in life,” said Kiyotada Sato, 79, an Ohtani obsessive who visited an M.L.B. fan festival last week in Tokyo.
Sato has a closet full of Dodgers gear, one reason M.L.B. apparel and jersey sales in Japan jumped 183 percent last year and sponsorships grew 114 percent, including new deals with Mastercard Japan and the video game company Konami. The Dodgers have seen the number and value of their deals skyrocket, and they are poised to surpass the Dallas Cowboys as the top-earning team, according to SponsorUnited, which tracks sports sponsorships.
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As many as 90 percent of Japanese visitors to Los Angeles last year were there to attend a Dodgers game, according to the city’s tourism board.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times
The Dodgers, already the top-drawing team in the league, saw attendance grow 2.7 percent last year. According to the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, 80 to 90 percent of Japanese visitors to the city last year were there to attend a Dodgers game.
“I lived through this with Magic Johnson,” said Lon Rosen, the team’s chief marketing officer who previously worked for the Lakers. “You don’t ever take an athlete like this for granted.”
Of course, injuries and overexposure could take the shine off Ohtani. But for now, he is making money even for rival teams.
When Ohtani comes to town, home teams have seen a surge in sponsorships from Japanese companies who buy in-stadium ads that can be seen by fans watching Ohtani’s games in Japan. Ads for more than three dozen Japanese brands were visible on television during Dodgers away games, SponsorUnited said.
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Japanese fans watching the Dodgers play an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants this month.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times
Going back to the 1990s, Japanese M.L.B. stars like Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui have created buzz. But Ohtani is a different caliber player. After five seasons in Japan, Ohtani has won three M.V.P. awards in his first seven seasons in the United States.
In October, the number of fans in Japan and South Korea watching the Dodgers play the Yankees in the World Series equaled the number watching in the United States and Canada.
NHK, the Japanese national broadcaster that shows Ohtani’s games, as well as those of other Japanese players in the United States, saw viewership surge 50 percent last season. It uses extra cameras in Dodger Stadium to track Ohtani in the dugout and on the field.
Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, said the income Ohtani generates from his sponsorships has allowed him to defer the bulk of his $700 million contract until after the 10-year deal ends in 2033. This gave the Dodgers room to sign other players, which was important to Ohtani.
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Ohtani’s face on an ad on a Japan Airlines plane.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York TimesImage
The Ito En Japanese tea company is one of Ohtani’s many sponsors.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times
Balelo has tried not to overexpose Ohtani, lest it diminish his brand and eat into his training schedule, which includes recovering from off-season surgery and practicing both batting and pitching. That has meant turning away offers and limiting the time he spends working with sponsors.
“I wanted to make it a much, much lighter lift for Shohei because he’s got a lot on his plate,” he said.
Still, there is an undercurrent of fatigue in Japan with the wall-to-wall coverage.
Publicly, many Japanese gush over Ohtani. But on forums like Reddit, resentment bubbles from those who have had their favorite television shows pre-empted, believe Ohtani may be tainted by a gambling scandal that landed his interpreter in jail, or just can’t bear the nonstop fawning.
Toyo Keizai, a business news publication, ran a story during the World Series with the headline, “The perspective missing in those making a fuss about ‘Ohtani Harassment.’” One commenter said, “It’s all Ohtani from morning to night,” and another added, “Not everyone likes Ohtani.”
“People are scared to criticize him, like, ‘Oh, something’s off with his batting stance,’” said Mike Peters, who worked as a Japanese translator for the New York Mets and teaches at Shizuoka University. “No one will say that, even if it’s true because it’s like blasphemy to say anything negative about him.”
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Tickets to Ohtani’s games in Japan are going for as much as $10,000Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York TimesImage
Still, there is an undercurrent of fatigue with the wall-to-wall Ohtani coverage.Credit…Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times
Ohtani has many years ahead of him. But topping his extraordinary success, including hitting 50 home runs and stealing 50 bases last year, will be difficult. So, too, will be finding new fans.
“Ohtani has become such a prominent figure in Japan that there is hardly anyone who doesn’t know him,” said Seiji Terasawa, the deputy director of the broadcasting rights group at NHK. “To further elevate his presence, he might need to achieve even more incredible feats, such as winning the Cy Young Award.”
For now, Peak Ohtani continues. Last week in Los Angeles, hundreds of fans waited online a day in advance to buy limited-edition Dodgers merchandise, including Ohtani jerseys, designed by the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The collection, made available on the Fanatics app, sold out in an hour.
Last week, Japanese flooded the fanfest at the Tokyo Skytree Town, which included a life-size cutout of Ohtani and American stadium food. Mari Muki and Donn Ozaki, who live in Southern California, bought tickets to see one of Ohtani’s games, which Muki compared to Taylor Swift concert tickets.
“Ohtani is popular in the U.S., and we knew he would be popular in Japan, too,” Ozaki said, “but you really have to see it to believe it here.”
River Akira Davis contributed reporting from Tokyo.
