Shohei Ohtani: MLB play-offs could help Los Angeles Dodgers star achieve global stardom
Ohtani joined the Angels before the 2018 season and was named the American League’s Rookie of the Year.
After a couple of seasons disrupted by injury, Ohtani was named the AL’s Most Valuable Player in 2021 and 2023, and was runner-up in 2022.
He then became a free agent, with the Dodgers signing him on a 10-year deal worth $700m (£558m). In May, Forbes, external said that former Manchester United footballer Ronaldo was the highest-paid athlete over the previous 12 months. But the total value of Ohtani’s contract is greater than that of Ronaldo, Messi and American football quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
According to Forbes, Ohtani’s on-field earnings were more than doubled by his off-field income of $60m (£45.2m). Only Messi and basketball stars LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo earned more.
This year James and Ohtani signed exclusive long-term trading-card deals with Topps – a division of Fanatics Collectibles. Their president of trading cards, David Leiner, explains that Ohtani is popular not just for being a “once-in-a-lifetime player”.
“He’s a really likeable guy,” he says. “He works his butt off on the field and is a great face for the sport. He’s transcending baseball.”
Ohtani is closely guarded about his private life and made a shock announcement in February that he’d got married to a “typical, ordinary person”, revealing his wife’s identity two weeks later by sharing a picture on Instagram.
He also trained his dog Decoy to ‘throw’ the first pitch at a game in August, and has even had pictures of him on his boots and the lining of his suit for this year’s All-Star game.
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