Shohei Ohtani has been breaking boundaries on the field since he arrived in Major League Baseball from Japan for the 2018 season. His resume includes American League MVP, All-Star as both hitter and pitcher, and last week, a World Baseball Classic MVP and gold medal for Japan.
Off the field, his historic achievements have pushed his endorsement earnings to the highest in the history of the sport, and on a level reserved for global soccer and basketball icons. Ohtani is a baseball unicorn on and off the field, and he will make an estimated $40 million in endorsements in 2023 after a series of new agreements. Ohtani will earn a projected $70 million in 2023, including his Angels salary, topping Max Scherzer ($60.3 million), Justin Verlander ($44.3 million) and Aaron Judge ($44 million).
It is a record for an MLB player, ahead of the $59 million Scherzer pocketed last year and $60 million for 2023.
Ohtani gets a huge bump in his on-field paycheck this year—his final season before free agency. The Angels paid him $5.5 million last year, but the club and Ohtani avoided arbitration with a one-year, $30 million agreement last fall. It is a record salary for an arbitration-eligible player—Mookie Betts at $27 million in 2020 was the previous high—and the $24.5 million raise is the biggest one-year jump in MLB history, ahead of the $9.6 million bump Jacob DeGrom received in 2019.
The 2023 record salary is just an appetizer for what is ahead. By the end of 2023, Ohtani will likely sign the largest MLB contract ever, breaking the record of $426.5 million held by his Angels teammate Mike Trout.
Ohtani has roughly a dozen endorsement partners in the U.S. and Japan, including BOSS, Fanatics, Kowa and Seiko. In January, he signed a long-term footwear and apparel deal with New Balance after eight years with Asics, and the sportswear brand launched a limited-edition cleat ahead of the WBC. New Balance is more a footwear brand, but Ohtani can help with $5 billion-in-revenue firm expand its apparel reach as it looks to double sales over the next few years.
Ohtani's New Balance deal is more akin to that of a top NBA or soccer star than MLB All-Star. Shoe deals worth more than $1 million a year are rare in baseball and reserved for a select few, such as Trout and Bryce Harper, but Ohtani could make eight figures annually from his unique agreement.
Tiger Woods and Roger Federer earned outsized endorsement income at their peaks that were two or three times what the No. 2 athlete in their respective sport earned from sponsors. Michael Jordan was three to four times ahead of everybody during the 1990s. Ohtani’s estimated off-field earnings are nearly six times what anyone else in baseball makes, with Harper ranked second at $7 million. The closest comp for Ohtani is probably Usain Bolt, who made as much as $30 million a year last decade—10 times what anyone else in track and field did.
The 28-year-old has become the face of MLB and is a cultural phenomenon in Japan, where nearly half the country tuned in to watch the WBC quarterfinal between Japan and Italy. Yet, he is still not widely recognized beyond baseball fans in the U.S. His 17% awareness level in this country, according to Q Scores, severely lags the biggest athlete celebrities like Tiger Woods (81%), Tom Brady (77%) and LeBron James (75%), and is only half the level of recently retired NFL All-Pro J.J. Watt.
But the show Ohtani put on at the WBC, including a 448-foot home run and 102 mile-per-hour fastball, has raised his profile further. He added 2.8 million Instagram followers during the tournament and now has more than twice as many as any other MLB player at 5.3 million. He also ranked first in the number of social media engagements during the WBC at 12.9 million, according to data from KORE.
Overall, the 10 top-earning players will collect a projected $443 million this year before any incentive bonuses—an increase of 17% over last year. Endorsement income represents only 13% of the total but drops to 4.5% if you exclude Ohtani. It is a far cry from the 35% for top players in the NBA and 33% in soccer, as athletes in both sports benefit from significantly higher shoe and apparel deals and greater international appeal. Off-field earnings estimates were compiled through conversations with those familiar with MLB endorsement deals. Also included is income from memorabilia, appearances, media and businesses tied to their celebrity. The figures are all before taxes and any agent fees.
Most of the highest earners are from big markets, including the top seven, which is made entirely of players from the Angels and New York’s two teams.
MLB is facing a bit of a reckoning with strains on the regional sports network model, but it did not slow owner spending this winter. Teams committed a record $4.3 billion on free agents and contract extensions, including five deals worth at least $280 million in Aaron Judge ($360 million), Manny Machado ($350 million), Rafael Devers ($313.5 million), Trea Turner ($300 million) and Xander Bogaerts ($280 million). Those contracts all rank among the 13 largest active agreements but will likely pale in comparison to what Ohtani commands as a free agent after the 2023 season.
The Highest-Paid MLB Players in 2023
1. Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels): $70 million
Salary: $30 million | Endorsements: $40 million | Age: 28
His salary ranks 10th in baseball this year, but it is only third highest on his own team, behind Trout and Anthony Rendon. Ohtani made a total of $12 million during his first five seasons with the Angels but will challenge Patrick Mahomes for the highest contract in North American team sports history. The NFL MVP signed a 10-year, $450 million deal in 2020.
2. Max Scherzer (New York Mets): $60.3 million
Salary: $58.3 million | Endorsements: $2 million | Age: 38
Scherzer has the highest on-field salary this year at $43.3 million from the Mets, but he will also pocket $15 million in deferred compensation based on his previous contract with the Washington Nationals. The righty pads his salary with an estimated $2 million off the field from partners Nike, Rawlings, Fanatics and Topps.
3. Justin Verlander (New York Mets): $44.3 million
Salary: $43.3 million | Endorsements: $1 million | Age: 40
Verlander pitched in only one game total during the 2020 and 2021 seasons because of the COVID-19 delay in 2020, followed by Tommy John surgery that sidelined him. He bounced back to win the 2022 American League Cy Young Award with the Astros before joining the Mets on a two-year deal at the same average annual salary as Scherzer. Verlander is the active career leader in wins (244) and strikeouts (3,198).
4. Aaron Judge (New York Yankees): $44 million
Salary: $40 million | Endorsements: $4 million | Age: 30
Judge bet on himself in 2022 by turning down a $213.5 million contract ahead of the season and then pulled a straight flush by winning the AL MVP and setting the AL record for most home runs in a season with 62. It meant an extra $146.5 million in the pact he eventually signed with the Yankees. Judge traded his Adidas for Nike this year in a new deal.
5. Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels): $40.5 million
Salary: $35.5 million | Endorsements: $5 million | Age: 31
Trout finished first or second in MVP voting in seven of his first eight full seasons, but injuries have limited him the past two years. He ranks first among active players in both on-base and slugging percentage. Trout added Budweiser to his endorsement portfolio, which also includes Nike, BodyArmor, Rawlings, Old Hickory and Anderson Authentics. His latest venture is a new golf club with businessman John Ruga that will feature an 18-hole course designed by Tiger Woods.
6. Anthony Rendon (Los Angeles Angels): $38.3 million
Salary: $38 million | Endorsements: $250,000 | Age: 32
The third baseman has struggled with injuries the past two seasons, playing a mere 105 of 324 games. When he has played, the results have been well below his career norms with just 11 home runs and a .235 average. Rendon has four seasons left on the seven-year, $245 million deal he signed with the Angels before the 2020 season.
7. Gerrit Cole (New York Yankees): $37.5 million
Salary: $36 million | Endorsements: $1.5 million | Age: 32
Cole’s $324 million contract with the Yankees is the biggest for any pitcher and ranks 10th among all players. He led the American League in strikeouts last season but also allowed the most home runs. His main partners are Nike, Rawlings and Fanatics.
8 (tie). Corey Seager (Texas Rangers): $37 million
Salary: $35 million | Endorsements: $2 million | Age: 28
Seager’s $325 million contract declines each year from last season’s $37.5 million to $31 million in 2026, which is the value for each season through the end in 2031. The Rangers are hoping Seager can lead them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The shortstop has endorsement deals with Adidas, Rawlings, Fanatics and TravisMathew.
8 (tie). Carlos Correa (Minnesota Twins): $37 million
Salary: $36 million | Endorsements: $1 million | Age: 28
Correa’s return to Minnesota, where he played in 2022, took a circuitous route, as he agreed to free-agent contracts worth more than $300 million with the Giants then the Mets. Both teams walked away from the deals following physical exams over concerns about Correa’s ankle. The Twins secured the shortstop with a six-year, $200 million deal. In 2023, he will receive his $32 million base salary, plus $4 million of his $8 million signing bonus.
10. Stephen Strasburg (Washington Nationals): $33.8 million
Salary: $33.6 million | Endorsements: $200,000 | Age: 34
Strasburg has been limited to 31 innings pitched since he signed a seven-year, $245 million contract after the 2019 World Series win. He underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in July 2021 that has kept him sidelined. He will collect $10 million in deferred salary this year as part of his previous contract with the Nationals.
(The eighth paragraph was added to provide comparisons of Ohtani's endorsements to athletes in other sports.)
