How the Dodgers Went From Broke to Breaking Baseball

Are the Los Angeles Dodgers ruining baseball — or are they simply the first team to fully understand how modern sports actually works?

Over the last decade, the Dodgers have gone from a bankrupt punchline to the most powerful franchise in Major League Baseball. They’ve spent more money than anyone, won multiple World Series, and built a roster that feels impossible to compete with. After signing Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Kyle Tucker, and more — many fans believe MLB is headed toward a lockout because of them.

But this story isn’t just about payroll.

It’s about how ownership, private equity, media rights, analytics, deferred contracts, and global markets quietly reshaped the sport — and why the Dodgers became the model franchise of the modern era.

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Bio: Joon Lee is an independent sports journalist reporting on YouTube. He’s written op-eds for The New York Times and The Boston Globe and worked for ESPN, Bleacher Report and The Washington Post, where he’s interviewed and photographed sports & pop culture figures like Kylian Mbappe, Shohei Ohtani, David Ortiz, Mookie Betts and Action Bronson. He previously was a contributor to SportsCenter, Around the Horn and First Take. His work has been featured on The Best American Sportswriting series and recognized as a finalist for the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting.

37 comments

  1. Padres attempt to make an offer to Judge that defers a lot of payment. MLB: "You can't do that. We won't let you make this offer. It circumvents the luxury tax"

    Dodgers make an offer to Ohtani that defers a lot of payment. MLB: ¯_(ツ)_/¯

  3. I mean last I checked the Dodgers didn't sweep the Blue Jays. They had to win 2 games in a row to win the series in Toronto, because the Blue Jays had a better record than they did… They had 100 wins and still got swept by the Diamondbacks. You would think a team that has won 3 World Series since 2020 sounds kind of bad for the game. The Yankees winning 4 series in 5 appearances from 1996 to 2001 was ruining baseball.

  4. All this goes to show how necessary a lockout is for the next CBA. The Dodgers’ pool of resources is stratospheres ahead of everyone else (their TV money is over $130 million more than the Yankees in 2nd), while just over half the league right now doesn’t have a local TV contract or is under a vastly reduced sum under MLB Productions. The MLB needs a facelift as far as media rights, revenue sharing, and deferred contracts go, and if it costs the 2027 season, so be it. The game is more unfair than ever today.

  7. So basically the wealthy are taking advantage of a massive loop hole that exists only for them. Sounds American all right. Also, the players don't realize they're getting fleeced. Those deferred salaries won't be worth as much when they're actually paid thanks to inflation.

    Oh and in soccer, while they don't do creative accounting like this, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have been issues as well with just buying all the best players. Bayern won their league 11 years in a row. In the Premier League only 3 teams have won in the past 10 years. Leagues definitely need a salary cap.

  13. Speaking of solid investments. the Mark Walters Group owns the PWHL and so ironically when Vladdy wore a Poulin jersey to Game 7 he was supporting the face of a Dodgers adjacent investment.

  16. Thanks Joon. Its definitely not just baseball, but yes the power of specific sports franchises has taken in a new horse by going international. As a bias dodger fan who remembers the slurve pitch of Vincent Padilla opening day start in 2011 as my first season watching the Dodgers, I agree it with all. I use to watch them on the local reginal new network of ktla for Tuesday amd Thursday games and the time warner turned spectrum package is the reason why many local fans even have cable in the first place in watching the dodgers. I do appreciate you acknowledging there signings. The team culture changed once leaders like mookie, max, CT3, Turner took over the era of Kemp, Either, and Gonzales … amazing players but not a team known for there work ethic like the squad now. Hey that's what we love about sports, the games do the talking l, all the conjecture in world isn't always what it lives up to be. Thanks again

  20. Payroll is being "pushed into the future." The Dodgers are required to put the present day value of the final payout (PDV) into an escrow account within a year of it being earned. They (and the player) can't touch the money, where it continues to grow with interest until the final payout. All of this is required in the current CBA. Deferrals are NOT a credit card.

  23. I think the thing that sets the Dodgers apart in "Super Villain Status" is the fact that they have a nearly completely astroturfed team at this point: Will Smith and Muncy are the only everyday players of theirs that can be considered homegrown talent (LA fans will say Pages/Hernandez too lol). At least in 2020 you had Bellinger, Seager, Kershaw, Pederson, the entire pitching staff, etc. The 90's Yankees also had a core of guys who came up with the team. It's one thing for a team to add "The Last Piece" to put them over the top (usually kinda frowned upon tbh!) but this would be like if the 2018 Warriors added Lebron and then in 2019 added Kawhi.

  24. Great information and a great analysis. Fans should blame their own cheap front Office that don't know how not only how to spend, but to run a sports franchise.

  26. I get the outrage but it’s hysterical when a team that doesn’t sniff the postseason (in an expanded format) complains about the dodgers as if they’re the reason they can’t win.
    Baseball is the one sport where the amount of talent on the roster doesn’t always equate to championship success. Fans are just mad the dodgers found a way to win back to back years further helping the detractors agenda/narrative. If SD doesn’t pay homage to Kobe & go 24 scoreless innings straight, do the injured dodgers win in 24?
    Toronto had plenty of chances to beat them and didn’t. 2 outs away, bottom of the ninth, bottom of the 11th. Such a lazy narrative man. Either way, great video.

  31. I watch 162 game a year of La dodgers ever year. I have been watching every game since Mookie Betts was traded for. I will continue to watch every Dodgers game in 2026 and beyond.

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