Key detail of Shohei Ohtani's financial impact will make Dodgers haters furious

Los Angeles Dodgers megastar Shohei Ohtani signed an astonishing 10-year, $700 million contract with LA in December 2023, but what's perhaps even more remarkable is that the Dodgers reportedly made all of that $700 million back (and then some) over the course of a single season.

It's a story that is sure to frustrate Dodgers haters who are banking on LA's bank running dry in the coming years as a consequence of the franchise's ambitious expenditures.

According to a new report from journalist Joon Lee (formerly of ESPN), Ohtani's monstrous and multi-faceted impact on the Dodgers' global brand, particularly in Japan, has already contributed to profound financial growth for the Dodgers that, though difficult to quantify, undoubtedly exceeds the cost to employ Shohei.

New report indicates that Shohei Ohtani helps the Dodgers bring in far more than $700 million annually

"Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract is enormous, but according to sources, the Dodgers made back the entirety of the contract in Ohtani’s first season in tickets, marketing deals in Japan/global, merchandise," Lee wrote. "His impact on baseball’s growth cannot be understated."

Lee provided further details on Shohei's impact in a video essay posted to X.

“The Dodgers made $750 million in 2024, but I think that underplays the impact that Ohtani is actually having on the team's financial situation,” Lee said.

“It's hard to understand how enormous a celebrity Ohtani is in Japan. … Japanese tourism to Los Angeles is up 90 percent since Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers. And 90 percent of the people who come from Japan go to Dodger Stadium for at least one baseball game, and many of them go for multiple.”

“One area where the Dodgers' power has increased (due to Ohtani) … is their power in negotiations now,” Lee added. “A lot of brands, both Japanese and non, now want to be around the Ohtani effect … there's a massive premium to advertising with the Dodgers.”

“All of this media coverage that they're getting because of what Ohtani is doing, both in Japan and around the world, is elevating the Dodgers' brand to a completely new level, something on par with the New York Yankees,” Lee continued.

“Ohtani’s success is increasing the value of the Dodgers franchise. So even though that money isn't showing up in their profits and revenues, it is showing up in how valuable the Dodgers are as a global brand, because Ohtani's success is helping the Dodgers transcend baseball and (become) part of global pop culture in a way that few sports teams around the world are able to do.”

Ohtani only added further value to his (and the Dodgers') global brand in Game 4 of the NLCS, pulling off arguably the greatest single-game performance in MLB history as LA advanced to its second-consecutive World Series.

Without fail, dozens upon dozens of Japanese media members will be at Toronto's Rogers Centre on Friday for Game 1 of the Fall Classic. The Ohtani effect isn't going away anytime soon, and right now, it's at the height of its influence.