With a simple Instagram post, the largest deal in sporting history was confirmed.
Japanese star Shohei Ohtani, who some experts predict could end his career as the best in baseball history, announced he had signed a $1 billion contract for 10 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
If you add up the salary of every men’s NRL player across the 17 clubs for the next four years, it still wouldn’t equal what Ohtani will be paid under his agreement with the Dodgers, which blows away previous contracts for soccer megastars such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
For months, the baseball world has sweated on Ohtani’s decision after he entered free agency.
So popular is he in his homeland, more than 50 Japanese media live in Los Angeles to cover Ohtani’s career, and many were preparing to move their families elsewhere if Ohtani signed with a rival franchise in San Francisco, Chicago or even Toronto.
In the end, he stayed in Los Angeles, where he had spent the past six seasons playing for the Angels, the Dodgers’ crosstown rivals. So, how did a 29-year-old son of a car manufacturer father and badminton-playing mother become worth more than $1 billion?
Japanese star Shohei Ohtani has signed the biggest known contract in sporting history.Credit: AP
Why is Ohtani so valuable?
When Babe Ruth was dominating baseball more than a century ago, crowds flocked to watch his incredible skills as both a hitter capable of monster home runs, and as a pitcher who could strike out the most lethal batters.
Such threats are commonly referred to as “two-way players” because they’re equally adept at both batting and pitching. But those days in professional baseball were thought to be dead decades ago: you were either a hitter or a pitcher.
Then along came Ohtani.
Shohei Ohtani’s was the tournament MVP after leading Japan to victory in the World Baseball Classic in March.Credit: Getty
Having indicated his desire to test himself in Major League Baseball more than a decade ago, it was even reported the Dodgers weren’t willing to let Ohtani be both a hitter and pitcher: he had to pick one.
But after delaying his entry into the MLB to spend his formative years playing in Japan, Ohtani quickly became a sensation at the Angels when he joined them in 2018 – and the Dodgers realised their mistake all those years ago.
This year, he led the American League with 44 home runs and also had a 10-5 record as a starting pitcher in 23 starts, stunning fans who have only known players to specialise in one facet of the game.
It led to a bidding frenzy to secure Ohtani’s signature for the 2024 season and beyond, although it’s expected he won’t pitch for the Dodgers next year as he recovers from elbow surgery in September.
How does the deal compare?
It’s hard to imagine Jon Rahm’s reported $850 million deal to join Greg Norman’s LIV Golf wouldn’t even be the biggest sporting contract of the week, but here we are.
Baseball players are among the highest-paid athletes in the world, yet none have got close to the contract handed to Ohtani.
Mike Trout ($648 million), Mookie Betts ($554 million) and Aaron Judge ($547 million) have all signed eye-watering deals in recent years, but they haven’t been able to eclipse NFL star and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes ($684 million),who it is believed had the largest deal in North American sports history before Ohtani.
Messi is thought to have signed the most lucrative contract for a soccer player when details leaked of a four-year deal worth about $1 billion with former club Barcelona until the end of 2021.
Ronaldo’s move from Manchester United to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr topped out at $815 million as the kingdom went about signing the world’s best players.
Ohtani’s deal might not net him as much as Messi or Ronaldo per year, but the quantum of the deal is what staggers. Yet he’ll have to work for his money.
Each MLB team plays a 162-game regular season before the play-offs, and once the season starts, teams generally have only one day per fortnight when they’re not playing, criss-crossing the country and into Canada.
But for each game he will play? Ohtani is due to earn $656,000 – more than most NRL and AFL players earn in a year.
Australian basketballer Ben Simmons is on a big-money deal with the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA.Credit: AP
When Australian sports stars try to keep up
Australia’s basketball cohort are among the most well-paid athletes produced by this country.
Golfer Cameron Smith signed a reported $140 million contract to join LIV last year. He was 17th on Forbes’ highest-earning athletes list in 2023, with a reported $110 million in earnings.
Ben Simmons is earning $53 million this year with the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA, while Joe Ingles ($16.7 million), Patrick Mills ($10.3 million) and Josh Giddey ($9.9 million) were also on top dollar.
Australia’s own baseball star, pitcher Liam Hendricks ($27.3 million), is on a massive contract with the Chicago White Sox.
But as for high-profile stars of the domestic football codes?
Lance Franklin’s $10 million deal signed with the Sydney Swans at the end of 2013 still stands the test of time as the biggest headline-grabbing contract, while in the NRL the North Queensland Cowboys signed Jason Taumalolo to a $10 million, 10-year deal which has him tied to the club until the end of 2027, still the longest and biggest in the code’s history.
Cricketers such as Pat Cummins ($3 million from Cricket Australia before endorsements and IPL deal) and Steve Smith and boxer Tim Tszyu also rank among Australia’s richest, but when it comes to a Japanese baseballer?
There’s a billion reasons why they’re not in the same ballpark.
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