Before the Juan Soto deal shook everyone in the baseball world, it was Shohei Ohtani’s deal that had everyone talking. A whopping $700 million deal for a record-breaking 10 years. It was one of the largest deals in professional sports history. Everyone questioned if the Japanese star was really worth it. And well, what an answer Ohtani has given. He talked through his game and with his bat.
Ohtani smashed 54 home runs, stole 59 bases, and led the LA Dodgers to a World Series title, their first full-season win since 1988. It’s a huge deal! And if that was not enough, he even got the National League MVP honors. That’s not just the result the LA team got; they earned a lot, too. MLB analyst A.J. Pierzynski had mentioned, “$120 million was what I was told yesterday… They paid him two million dollars this year. They made 120 million dollars.” But that’s old news; Forbes has given a figure that’s honestly jaw-dropping!
The $700M gamble paid off big time for the Dodgers
Shohei Ohtani has completely changed the game for the LA Dodgers, and not just on the field. Even before revealing the Forbes figure, here is another mindblowing fact. Did you know that Dodgers outfield wall ad revenue jumped from $500,000 in 2023 to a jaw-dropping $6.5 million this year? Well, all thanks to Shohei Ohtani! The $700 million investment that the Los Angeles Dodgers made in Ohtani is already paying off in spades. And Ohtani has only just started.
Forbes listed on their website that the Dodgers were valued at $4.8 billion last year. Guess the number now? That number has shot up to $5.5 billion. It’s a $700 million jump, exactly the numbers on Ohtani’s contract. Ohtani’s popularity and his hold on the field made the Dodgers all that money in a year. He still has many more years to spend in LA. That figure itself is insane and exactly what Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, was trying to make everyone understand when the Ohtani signings were going on. He wanted the teams to see the bigger picture.
“You had to quantify that as value,” Balelo said. Clearly, the Los Angeles Dodgers understood the assignment, and they are now cashing in big time. From partnerships with Japanese retailer DAISO to insane 19 sellout games and Ohtani’s jerseys’—they are flying off the shelves. The Dodgers are dominating both on and off the field, all thanks to Ohtani. And really, he helped the team be what it is now.
Shohei Ohtani’s vision brought to life
When Shohei Ohtani agreed to defer $680 million of his $700 million contract, it wasn’t just a financial decision; it was a game-changing decision. The real kicker is—it was Ohtani’s idea. Dodgers president Stan Kasten was shocked when Andrew Friedman shared Ohtani’s plan. But Ohtani had a vision: by deferring his salary without interest until 2034, he would reduce the Los Angeles Dodgers luxury tax hit from $70 million to $46 million annually.
Balelo revealed, “I don’t think we’ll ever see this type of unselfishness in an athlete to give up as much as he did. It was a huge splash in the industry that’s never been done before to that level.” But Shohei, with that decision, helped free up the budget so the franchise could build a championship-worthy team.
The LA Dodgers wasted no time standing tall for Ohtani’s efforts. They got Yoshinobu Yamamoto for 12 years for $325 million. Then they got Teoscar Hernandez for a $23.5 million deal. The result? A World Series win!
Ohtani’s selflessness and vision sure set a standard. Co-owner Todd Boehly mentioned, “He made the club that much better when he came to that decision.” For the Dodgers, the sky is sure to be the limit!
