A building’s billboard that features an image of Shohei Ohtani in Tokyo. — NYT
IT’s hard to be ubiquitous in Tokyo, one of the largest cities in the world, but Shohei Ohtani has found a way.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star seems to be everywhere: on billboards, on products, in television ads and news and entertainment shows and, of course, on the field when his games are broadcast live in Japan.
Ohtani might play baseball 8,851 kilometres away, but one of the first things people see when they deplane at Haneda Airport, the city’s international gateway, is a photo of the superstar in an ad for green tea.
Leaving the airport, one sees Ohtani’s boyish image on vending machines, in convenience stores and wrapped around trains coursing through the city.
When Ohtani and his team landed in Tokyo to prepare for two season-opening games against the Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers announced yet another sponsorship – with Hakkaisan Brewery, a sake distiller based in Japan.
An image of Ohtani supporting his New Balance shoes collection at a store in Tokyo. — NYT
Major League Baseball has had no shortage of stars over the years, but it has never seen a sensation like Ohtani, who is Japan’s answer to Babe Ruth, a rare player who can both pitch and hit at the highest level.
His return this month to Japan, where tickets to his games are going for as much as US$10,000 (RM44,000) has the feel of a coronation for a homegrown star who last season signed a record US$700mil (RM3bil) contract and helped the Dodgers win the World Series.
In sports, money often follows success, and Ohtani’s success has created a windfall for himself, the Dodgers and the league. Ohtani has about 20 active sponsorship deals at any time, like with the Japanese drugmaker Kowa and with New Balance, and the value of his deals spiked after he joined the Dodgers last season following six years with the Los Angeles Angels.
Rob Manfred, the commissioner of MLB, who has overseen its international expansion, has encountered his share of stars in his nearly 30 years at the league. But Ohtani is a cut above.
Los Angeles Dodgers jerseys featuring Ohtani at a pop-up store for Major League Baseball in Tokyo. — NYT
“I’ve never seen anything at the level of excitement for Ohtani,” he said in an interview.
Ohtani, 30, is a marketer’s dream – a sports icon, pop star and national hero rolled into one.
As the Dodgers made their way to Japan before a pair of games with the Cubs, news programmes tracked the team’s charter flight across the Pacific Ocean, and fans speculated about whether Ohtani had brought his spaniel, Decoy.
Talk shows dissected Ohtani’s diet, fashion choices and home decor, as well as his wife’s hobbies.
Images of Ohtani on the side of a Japan Airlines plane at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. — NYT
“Right now, Ohtani is the thing that fills me with the most spirit in life,” said Kiyotada Sato, 79, an Ohtani obsessive who visited an MLB fan festival last week in Tokyo.
Sato has a closet full of Dodgers gear, one reason MLB apparel and jersey sales in Japan jumped 183% last year and sponsorships grew 114%, including new deals with Mastercard Japan and the video game company Konami.
The Dodgers have seen the number and value of their deals skyrocket, and they are poised to surpass the Dallas Cowboys as the top-earning team, according to SponsorUnited, which tracks sports sponsorships.
The Dodgers, already the top-drawing team in the league, saw attendance grow 2.7% last year. According to the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, 80% to 90% of Japanese visitors to the city last year were there to attend a Dodgers game.
An image of Ohtani on a taxi stand ad for the energy drink Yunker. — NYT
“I lived through this with Magic Johnson,” said Lon Rosen, the team’s chief marketing officer who previously worked for the Los Angeles Lakers.
“You don’t ever take an athlete like this for granted.”
Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, said the income Ohtani generates from his sponsorships has allowed him to defer the bulk of his US$700mil contract until after the 10-year deal ends in 2033. This gave the Dodgers room to sign other players, which was important to Ohtani.
Balelo has tried not to overexpose Ohtani, lest it diminish his brand and eat into his training schedule, which includes recovering from off-season surgery and practising both batting and pitching. That has meant turning away offers and limiting the time he spends working with sponsors.
Images of Ohtani on a vending machine for a Japanese tea company. — NYT
“I wanted to make it a much, much lighter lift for Shohei because he’s got a lot on his plate,” he said.
Ohtani has many years ahead of him. But topping his extraordinary success, including hitting 50 home runs and stealing 50 bases last year, will be difficult. So, too, will be finding new fans.
“Ohtani has become such a prominent figure in Japan that there is hardly anyone who doesn’t know him,” said Seiji Terasawa, the deputy director of the broadcasting rights group at NHK.
“To further elevate his presence, he might need to achieve even more incredible feats, such as winning the Cy Young Award.”
For now, Peak Ohtani continues. Last week in Los Angeles, hundreds of fans waited online a day in advance to buy limited-edition Dodgers merchandise, including Ohtani jerseys, designed by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
The collection, made available on the Fanatics app, sold out in an hour. — NYT
