When Shohei Ohtani went on the market, everyone knew that the numbers would be huge. Record-breaking even. But nobody seriously expected the half-billion dollar glass ceiling that was unofficially seen as virtually unassailable to be reached and breached. In the end, it was blown away as if it were nothing.
The 10-year, $700 million deal between Ohtani and the Blues stands as the largest contract in the history of sports, but when you are dealing with numbers so vast, so unimaginable, you need to break down into more bite-sized chunks.
The deal includes deferrals which will see Ohtani earn just $2 million a year for ten years, followed by $68 million a year for ten years after the contract is ended.
But wait! It gets more complicated.
Currently, Ohtani makes an estimated $65 million a year in endorsement deals. That figure can rise or fall, but you have to think that it will do a bit of both. Rise for the next few years, and then fall off as his career winds up toward retirement.
For the sake of argument, let’s take the current figures as the baseline for the next ten years. In fact, these numbers will not likely vary too much, because when his endorsements will presumably fall off after retirement, that $68 million back end payment will make up for it. So in broad strokes, this is a decent guide for Shohei’s earnings for the rest of his working career.
Shohei Ohtani put on an all-time performance to help the @Dodgers secure the NLCS sweep, hitting 3 HR and throwing six scoreless innings with 10 Ks!
Tune in to MLB Network at 8pm ET to relive LA’s series-clinching win. pic.twitter.com/sbaiD7YRI2
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 21, 2025
In that case, Ohtani will have an income of $67 million per year all total.
If he were to be paid per game, that would be $413,580 per game in the regular season. Spring training and post season would not be included in this figure.
In our own lives, we tend to get paid weekly or monthly, so for comparison, Ohtani will take home $1,288,461 per week, or $5,583,333 per calendar month.
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If you are a worker who is paid a daily rate, you may want to compare your takings to Ohtani’s $183,561 per day. And based on a 40-hour work week, Shohei will be clocking in at $32,211 per hour.
Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract is enormous, but according to sources, the Dodgers made back the entirety of the contract in Ohtani’s first season in tickets, marketing deals in Japan/global, merchandise.
His impact on baseball’s growth cannot be understated.
— Joon Lee (@joonlee) October 18, 2025
To put that in perspective, Shohei Ohtani earns roughly the annual salary of a teacher every two hours or so. It takes the average worker roughly 13 minutes to earn enough to buy a Big Mac. It takes Shohei Ohtani just over half a second.