Why Does MLB Love Shohei Ohtani?
Shohei Ohtani is arguably the best player in MLB right now. But if you haven’t noticed, MLB uses every opportunity to utilize his image for content. Whether it’s his dog, his wife, or his performance, you can be sure there’s an article about it on MLB.com. It’s not that this annoys me (maybe it does a little), but I wondered why almost every top story is about Ohtani. That’s why I decided to research it. And just so you know, it’s not as simple as one might think.
The simplest reason why MLB loves Shohei is that he is the best player in MLB. He led MLB in runs scored (146), and total bases (380). He also led the entire NL in SLG (.622), OPS (1.014), OPS+ (179), rOBA (.423), Rbat+ (175), and intentional walks (20). Just purely because of his strong play, there are so many topics to write about when it comes to his in game performance. Basically, since he’s the best player in MLB, there’s often not a game where he doesn’t have a standout performance whether on the mound or at the plate.
The second reason why MLB loves Shohei Ohtani is that he nets the biggest revenue for MLB/the Dodgers of any player. A Dodgers reporter, Jack Harris, notes the Dodgers’ revenue increased by $200 million+ in just Ohtani's 2024 debut season, pushing the Dodgers over $1 billion in revenue. Another report states that the Dodgers made back the entirety of the contract in Ohtani’s first season in tickets, marketing deals in Japan/merchandise. Also, in 2024, the Dodgers paid $101 million dollars in tax penalties as well as “around $150 million” in revenue sharing. A lot of that revenue is made from Shohei Ohtani. And a nice chunk of that is going into MLB’s pocket.
The last reason is because he brings in so many fans from Japan and expands baseballs’ reach. In 2024, MLB broke viewership records with over 15 million people watching the first two games. In 2024, the NLDS featured the Dodgers and Padres and viewership in Japan was nearly 13 million likely from Shohei Ohtani and other Japanese players. Also in 2024, viewership of MLB games shot up 42%. When the Cubs played the Dodgers in Tokyo, Japan, the first game of the Tokyo Series averaged more than 25 million viewers in Japan according to Major League Baseball, making it the most-watched MLB game in the country's history.
I hope that gave you some insight on why MLB loves Shohei Ohtani. Thanks for reading!
