Dodgers Rumors: LA has already made absurd profit off Shohei Ohtani after Year 1

All of the teams chasing Shohei Ohtani last December knew that getting him would not only mean they were getting a generational player and all of the on-field benefits that come with him, but it would mean raking in millions of dollars in sponsorships. Although the Angels never disclosed exactly how much money they made by having Ohtani in Anaheim, additional revenue was reportedly in the low tens of millions.

Soon after he signed with the Dodgers, they penned four marquee sponsorships with Japanese companies — Daiso, All Nippon Airways, Toyo Tires, and Kowa Company — within the first two months of regular season play.

That's not to mention all of the extra fans he's attracted not only to Dodger Stadium but to competing ballparks, as well as jersey and merch sales. His jersey led baseball in sales this season.

If the Angels made in the low tens of millions, imagine how much he pulled for the Dodgers, who were already an internationally recognized franchise with a lot more history and success behind them than the Angels. According to AJ Pierzynski on Foul Territory, the Dodgers have raked in $120 million thanks to Ohtani in a single season.

Dodgers have reportedly made $120 million off of Shohei Ohtani in sponsorships this past season

Pierzynski added a caveat: "I don't know how true this number was, but I was told from a pretty reliable person." If we assume it's accurate, then Ohtani's contract is on track to pay for itself — and then some — before the Dodgers even have to pay out the $680 million they'll owe him from 2034 through 2043.

Dodgers owner Mark Walter has a reported personal net worth of $12 billion, and then you add the power of his Guggenheim Partners investment firm, and then you add the money the Dodgers are making off of Ohtani, and then you add the money they're making off of everyone else. Walter might not be the most independently wealthy owner in baseball, but the Dodgers' spending power can't be overstated.

There was a reason Ohtani deferred so much of his salary; the Dodgers built around him and will continue to do so this offseason. They've already been connected to some of the top free agents on the market — Juan Soto, Max Fried — and all of that good Ohtani money is going to be reinvested straight back into the Dodgers' efforts to sign them.