The Los Angeles Dodgers are doing something not many are doing in Major League Baseball—they are spending lavishly, without a hiccup. In the last two off-seasons, they have spent a huge ton of money, be it Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Meanwhile, in comparison, even teams as big as the San Francisco Giants are penny-pinching. Other teams are also struggling with financial woes; while they are shaking up the league with star signings one after another. How are the rich getting richer, is the big question?

Ever wondered what’s their secret weapon? No, they don’t have Aladin’s lamp. While the world of baseball is now busy going gaga over Roki Sasaki signing with the LA Dodgers, sports insider Bill Simmons recently, in a tweet, broke down how the Dodgers can sign all the top players. Well, it all boils down to the massive TV deal the Los Angeles Dodgers locked in back in the day. The one that protects them from huge issues in sports broadcasting today—cord cutting.

The 2014′ billion dollar deal that’s helping Dodgers 

Cord cutting simply means ditching cable TV subscriptions for streaming services. And it’s become a massive headache for the sports networks. Fans might be saving money, but the RSN, the regional sports network, relies on those cable subscriptions for funding. So as more people are dropping cables, these networks are losing millions. Which makes it hard for them to afford those multimillion-dollar broadcasting contracts with teams. However, the Dodgers are immune to this.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are immune to this industry-wide issue simply because they signed way back in 2014 a TV deal. So they secured an $8.35 billion deal for 25 years, guaranteeing them $334 million annually. To put into context, the Yankees YES Network gets in just $190 million per year. Many teams see just $100 million every year, so this number that the Dodgers are pulling is like the gold standard. But it gets even sweeter.

When Time Warner Cable was later clinched by Charter Communications, it won the rights to broadcast Dodgers games; they agreed to cover the subscription fees from other video distributors, even if they didn’t carry the network. So what this did was it ensured that LA gets their full payout, no matter how the market molded. So even as the cable subscriptions now are dwindling and other teams are seeing the effect of it, the Dodgers are not really unaffected. Well, at least until 2038, the year when this deal finally ends. Till then, the Dodgers, although, would have already cemented themselves as a superstar dynasty.

Because the financial freedom is giving them the appetite to sign the Ohtanis and Yamamotos of the world, year after year. Were they lucky with this deal? Sure, but they were also strategically way ahead. By now, they are the envy of many teams and their fans. Now even more so with their latest signing.

Los Angeles Dodgers signs another star to their stacked lineup

Roki Sasaki, aka the flamethrower from the land of the rising star, was the talk of the town this off-season. And yes, the LA Dodgers managed to sign him too. By now, everyone is left scratching their heads. Do they even need another star pitcher when they are stacked with them? They recently even acquired Blake Snell, who is coming out of a standout season himself. Moreover, the entire ordeal of how Sasaki wanted a low-key team and was heading to Yu Davish, his idol, to the Padres—what did those entail? Well, Jim Bowden recently hinted that several teams were seeking an investigation to be done on the signing.

Well, turns out MLB did do an investigation and found nothing pointing negatively about this deal done. Yep, it was just a masterstroke by LA. And in the end, Shohei Ohtani apparently swayed the Japanese star to come to LA. For Sasaki too, it makes a lot of sense to be in LA. He is not going to immediately shoulder a major responsibility in the team; they have Yoshinbu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, and more.

Sasaki wanted a team that will help him develop, and the Dodgers are just a prime team for this. Moreover, they have a great presence in Japan. And not to mention, they are one of the seemingly winningest teams possible. And with all the deals and money coming their way, they seem to be on the way to building a huge dynasty.

Sasaki for sure did weigh the pros and cons, and pros weighed heavier. For sure, TV deals and more are helping the Dodgers clinch players like Sasaki for the long run. What do you think: Was the TV deal a strategic one or was it luck by chance?