LA Dodgers President Stan Kasten discusses the impact of signing Ohtani ahead of the World Series

Dodgers president Stan Kasten told SBJ that his team's popularity has reached a “whole other level” with its popularity in Asia.Getty Images

Dodgers executives knew the Shohei-Ohtani effect would produce financial gain domestically. But even they are amazed at Ohtani's influence – fueled by his first postseason appearance – on the Pacific Rim.

“I think we’ve always been the most popular team in Asia,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten told SBJ. “But now it’s reached a whole different level, in a way we couldn’t have predicted.”

An estimated 12.9 million viewers in Japan watched Game 5 of the NL Division Series, which pitted Japanese starters Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers and Yu Darvish of the Padres, making it the most-watched MLB postseason game of all time in the country. “Who would have thought that?” said Kasten.

And that viewership should only increase as Ohtani plays in his first World Series against the Yankees starting Friday night in LA

The Dodgers brought in 12 new sponsors from Japan this year. And that portfolio is expected to grow in 2025 when the team opens its regular season against the Cubs in Tokyo on March 18 and 19. “What will that be like?” Kasten said. “I can’t even imagine it, but I think it will be fun.”

An increase in Asian customers at Dodger Stadium in 2024 has led to the team offering more Asian food at the stadium. It has also led to an increase in daily stadium tours, in different languages ​​no less.

“I can’t walk to any part of my stadium on a day that I don’t run into a tour group,” Kasten said. “It was an amazing thing. He's incredibly popular throughout LA. You will see pictures of him. And of all things, pictures of (his dog) Decoy. We didn’t expect that.”

Aside from the gambling scandal involving his former interpreter – Ohtani was acquitted by federal authorities – the first year of his Dodger Blue tenure was an overwhelming success.

“As I've said from the beginning, and MLB will confirm, the combination of our profile and Shohei's profile shows that baseball is really doing its best,” Kasten said. “It’s good for baseball domestically and also really good for baseball internationally.”

The Dodgers drew nearly four million fans this season, reaching an MLB-best 3,941,251 (48,657 per game). They also led the league in road attendance (36,253 per game). Ohtani's No. 17 jersey was the best-selling in baseball. According to a report in USA Today, the team's outfield wall is expected to generate $6.5 million in advertising this year, compared to $500,000 in 2023 (Kasten would neither confirm nor deny this).

It was estimated that the Dodgers would generate $30 million or more in new revenue, best among U.S. professional sports teams this year, Bob Lynch, founder and CEO of SportsUnited, told SBJ's Terry Lefton in July .

“I’m not going to give you numbers, but you wouldn’t believe the numbers if I gave them to you,” Kasten said. “They were really, really impressive and clearly exceeded our expectations.”

After signing a 10-year, $700 million contract (with a whopping $680 million deferral), Ohtani recorded the first 50-homer, 50-steal season in MLB history. The bidding war for his milestone 50th home run ball from his three-homer, 10-RBI performance Sept. 19 in Miami fetched a record $4.39 million at auction.

“Shohei is just a completely different experience,” said Kasten, “you couldn’t have even dreamed of 50-50 before this season. “A person cannot do both. And he didn’t even pitch yet.”

Ohtani-mania reached its peak on August 28 when fans lined up hours before first pitch to snag a coveted bobblehead featuring the superstar slugger holding Decoy. The first 40,000 fans received a Shohei Decoy bobblehead, but there were also 2,000 special gold editions of the collectible, which only increased demand. The bobbleheads quickly hit the secondary market when a seller on eBay asked $20,000 for a gold edition.

“In hindsight, we shouldn’t do this anymore because it caused a frenzy that we’ve never seen before,” Kasten said. “Next time we will be better prepared. …You didn't have to line up at 9 a.m. That wasn't necessary. We’ve never had this problem before and we won’t have it again.”

The Guggenheim Group bought the Dodgers in 2012 for $2.15 billion. Forbes now values ​​the team at $5.45 billion, trailing only the Yankees. Last offseason, LA spent over $1 billion on contracts for Ohtani and Yamamoto (12 years, $325 million).

“We never wanted to be the evil empire,” Kasten said. “We want to be a permanent contender, and we are. I don't think the Yankees are evil. I've never had that. I certainly never saw us like that. I can tell you who doesn't think we're evil: almost four million people a year.

“They think we provide great entertainment and I like to say our fans have invested in us and if we do our job we will get it back in the form of tickets, merchandise and media.”

The Dodgers continue to invest in Dodger Stadium and recently completed a $100 million renovation.

It's hard to keep finding superlatives for how well everything went.

“I can’t think of how to describe it anymore,” Kasten said. “It’s just been an extraordinary year, and there’s more to come.”