How Shohei Ohtani Will Make Los Angeles Billions

Joe Pompliano breaks down the economic impact of Shohei Ohtani after his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, looking at the new sponsorship opportunities with Japanese companies, his massive impact on Los Angeles tourism, and much more.

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[alexsakon]

There are still some obtuse people saying that Ohtani is overrated and overpayed while the Dodgers and MLB are raking in hundreds of millions of dollars while paying him $2 million a year. Bless their hearts.

[vinja]

I've never been a baseball person but Ohtani & the craze has captured my attention. That alone is testament to his true value proposition bringing in brand new fan potential, viewership, merchandise, etc.

[yotrader]

About a week ago, there was a Japanese news clip showing a Japan Airlines plane with OHTANI livery. You get the picture.

[mekrn]

Let me just say, I'm a 37 y/o Nike fan from Philippines and this is my first time buying new balance shoes because of this guy. 😅

[dmytroizotov]

I live in Japan for the last 3 years. Recently, whenever I go out I am playing a game “how much time will pass before I see a picture of Ohtani”. The best result I had so far was 1 minute 😂
He’s literally everywhere

[nowhere_]

Let me tell you as a Japanese woman, the people at my part-time job, prob like 10-15 people, were sitting right in front of the TV the whole Dodgers vs. Padres game. It was the 5th one, and they were half yelling and making comments about Darvish’s pitching saying he’s still got it, let alone literally everything about Ohtani. That was NOT a workplace lol.
Yes, the games are usually in the morning for us, so lots of people find out about the results and how Ohtani played on Twitter or YT, but the impact he holds is something else, to say the least. He’s got a middle aged man I know who never watches any sports talk about how ass a certain ball umpire is.
Conclusion, saying he’s a national hero is an understatement. Everyone thought we would never have a star player as huge as Ichiro.

[whatsupfoo]

they say Dodgers were dumb to give him 700MIL….Dodgers struck gold by signing him. They paid him that $$$ not just for baseball.

[steventogami]

My 100 yo mother watches Ohtani and the Dodgers play this season on live TV broadcasts.

[samidavis]

That specimen of a man is worth more than a billion easily. If the Dodgers continue to win they can make that money back in a few years or less. The dude is pride of Japan and all of Asia.

[yamamancha]

There's also the direct economic impact for the Dodgers due to Ohtani's contract. The accrued interest they'll earn on the $44 million/yr they're putting in escrow will earn them tens of millions by the time they're done paying him.

[jasonhikida]

I purchased mlb tv this year so I could watch dodgers games. Also bought ohtani baseball cards from topps for the first time since i was like 6 y/o. But spent a lot more money gambling on dodger games cuz of ohtani lol

[jeremywolf]

What's even more amazing is that he didn't even leave LA and this is still happening. This is what separates great organizations from, well, the Angels.

[kazuthesamurai]

The guy is a true-blockbuster man with the mindset and diligence of any 野球少年 👍🏻

[smacdiesel]

I've been to several Dodger games this year, there is always a Japanese seated somewhere near me, they are all over that stadium.

[HOE-rvie]

He is like Caitlin Clark of NCAA and WNBA. I followed Shohei and Dodgers upon discovery due to YT random feed. He is exciting to watch. While watching him, I started to discover his teammates like Hernadez and MVP Freddie. 🏆🤩

[rickdeckard]

Great breakdown that's why people don't understand, they'll make back their 700M in one year, the amount of eye balls from people who didn't watch baseball before, the advertising revenue all the ancillary benefits of having Ohtani, uplifting his teammates inspiring fans, its hard to quantify these things but the lineups for his bobble head alone should tell you, many of them were probably for resale but it's almost like the fact they paid him a record amount was necessary because of the press it generated, it's like if a polo shirt cost $5 no one would care, but if you charge $500 for it then everyone will want it more, quite counter intuitive. Everything Ohtani does he does for the team but this 50/50 record, in a way was necessary because it now offers a clear definable metric and justification of his record salary (underpaid imho), should the Dodgers not do well in the playoffs well they can still say Ohtani had a successful season despite not pitching because he has set a new benchmark with the 50/50 club.

[bizzz.R]

I read that around 80-90% of Japanese people who travel to LA.... also go to a Dodger game. 🤑

[CLJuvenal]

Ohtani was a household name in Japan before he ever got to America. Thanks to my Japanese girlfriend I found out about him when we started watching him at Angels games in 2018. Saw him 5 times in his last season there, including pitching a 10 strikeouts game while hitting 2 home runs. That was awesome to be there.

[Sebakeng]

Hideo Nomo started all this. He put his career on the line to do it, too.

[LAChannel-pyll]

Great video!
The most remarkable impact of Shohei Ohtani is non baseball fans talking about him and watching baseball. Kids are starting to play baseball, CNN is talking about him, girls go out to the stadium, etc, etc. He is making baseball relevant