| editorial staff
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10.12.2023
A earning prospect that exceeds many a gross domestic product: In Major League Baseball, Shohei Ohtani has signed the highest-paying contract for a professional athlete to date.
The major league record for the highest-paid contract of all time remains in Los Angeles, but both team and player are changing: Shohei Ohtani is moving from the Angels to the Dodgers. He is committed there for ten years, each of which will be rewarded with 70 million US dollars – a total of an incredible 700 million US dollars.
Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, spoke in a statement of a “unique and historic contract for a unique and historic player.” His client structured his new working paper “in such a way that it expresses a real commitment to long-term success on both sides.”
Highest-paying contract in professional sports
With his future annual salary, Ohtani will significantly exceed the baseball record set by his previous Angels teammate Mike Trout, who had to settle for 426 million in 2019 for a twelve-year commitment. But that’s not all: As the MLB points out, it is the highest-paying contract for any athlete, baseball or not.
Soccer star Kylian Mbappé will at best earn around $679 million if he remains loyal to Paris Saint-Germain until 2025. Even Patrick Mahomes’ dream NFL deal, which earns up to $500 million from the Kansas City Chiefs by 2032 and was thus far the biggest earner among active US athletes, pales in comparison to Ohtani’s income. For further context: According to the IMF estimate, Tonga’s gross domestic product adjusted for purchasing power was $668 million last year.
Who is the record player?
Shohei Ohtani is a 29-year-old Japanese who is primarily used as a pitcher and after years in the domestic Pacific League (there with the Hokkaidō Nippon Ham Fighters) moved to Major League Baseball in North America. Since 2018, wearing the Los Angeles Angels jersey, he has not only attracted the attention of the wealthy city rivals, but also the Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants, as Bild reports.
Ultimately, Ohtani at least decided to stay on the West Coast and commented on the record change on his Instagram profile: “I’m sorry it took me so long to make a decision. I have decided to choose the Dodgers as my next team. I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the Angels and their fans who have supported me over the last six years; as well as everyone who was involved in the negotiation process on both teams.”
Shohei Ohtani would like to share further information with the public at a press conference soon.
2023-12-10 17:44:20
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