When Shohei Ohtani moved from the Angels to the Dodgers, it was a huge change for baseball. But it was also a really big deal for the business side of sports. Everyone knew the amazing two-way player would help the team win; but smart people knew his arrival in Los Angeles would also bring in a lot of money. Now that the 2025 season is here, we can see just how much money Shohei is making for the team. It shows how well the Dodgers used his star power to grow their business in amazing ways.

Ohtani’s move across town ended with him signing a massive 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers in December 2023. But the smartest part was how the contract was set up. Ohtani himself suggested delaying most of the money – $680 million! This means he only gets $2 million each year while he plays. The rest ($68 million per year) won’t be paid until 2034 to 2043. This setup gives the Dodgers a lot more money to spend on other good players right now. It also helps them manage baseball’s spending limits because the contract counts for less money each year ($46 million) than the full $70 million.

This smart plan wasn’t just good luck, according to ESPN baseball expert Jeff Passan. On a podcast called Foul Territory, Passan talked about how clever the Dodgers were. “The Dodgers didn’t just see a two-time MVP when they signed Shohei Ohtani. They saw a business opportunity and maximized it,” Passan said. He also added, “They are simply better at leveraging than the rest of the teams out there.” Passan meant the Dodgers knew Ohtani was more than just a great player – he was a chance to make a lot of money, and they knew exactly how to do it.

We can see Passan was right when we look at all the new sponsors. After Ohtani joined the LA-based outfit, the Dodgers seemed like a magnet for companies from Japan wanting to partner with them. Big names like All Nippon Airways (ANA), Toyo Tires, Kowa, Daiso, and Kosé quickly signed deals. People first guessed the Dodgers might make $30 million in new sponsor money. But they actually made around $70 million in just the first year! About 10 to 12 new Japanese companies became partners. It was much bigger than anyone expected.

The Ohtani model: a new era for sports business?

The Dodgers planned well for this. Even before Ohtani signed on, they hired Lorenzo Sciarrino as their Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships to handle worldwide partnerships. This shows they were thinking ahead about how to work with companies from other countries. Still, the team’s president, Stan Kasten, said that the money Ohtani brought in “really transcended any of our plans.” This means even with their planning in place, Ohtani’s sheer star power was bigger than they could ever have imagined.

Ohtani’s worldwide fame brings huge crowds to the games. The Dodgers already had lots of fans, but even more came to see Ohtani. They averaged over 48,000 people at home games in 2024 and were the first team to reach 3 million fans that year. What’s really amazing is they also had the most fans at their away games, averaging over 35,000. Special nights, like when they gave away Ohtani bobbleheads, brought in the biggest crowds in years. And the Dodgers smartly used this powerful “Ohtani effect” to boost their business. How, you ask?

They carefully raised ticket prices for games because they knew so many people desperately wanted to see him, and eager fans kept buying tickets anyway. One could easily see this incredible excitement during the special 2025 games played in Tokyo. Getting tickets was extremely difficult! The cheapest seats found online for resale cost roughly $1,400 for the second game and over $2,400 for the opener. Compare that to the cheapest tickets for the Dodgers’ regular season opener back in the US, which started around $215. That massive difference proves how much value fans place on watching Ohtani and shows how effectively the Dodgers turned that intense excitement into financial success.

So, Jeff Passan seems spot on: the Dodgers saw a big business chance with Shohei Ohtani and used it perfectly. They were smart with his contract, brought in tons of sponsors thanks to his fame, and got fans more excited than ever. What the Dodgers did is more than just trying to win games; it’s a great example of how to run a sports business really well. So as the new era in sports business begins, the question is, who is going to be the next Ohtani-style superstar?