Shohei Ohtani has broken records in baseball with his versatility as a power hitter and as a pitcher. The Japanese superstar has helped take the Dodgers to back-to-back World Series championships since joining the Boys in Blue in 2024. Whether one follows baseball or not, the likelihood is that people know or have heard the name Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani’s popularity has boosted the popularity of the Dodgers across the U.S. and Japan and many places in between. It’s drawn such Asian brand dynamos such as apparel brand Uniqlo to the team’s West Coast temple of baseball in the heart of Los Angeles.

Stan Kasten, the current president and part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, calls Ohtani “unique.”

As a baseball star, Ohtani is unique in that he is the highest-paid player in baseball overall in 2026 even though his $2 million annual salary is dwarfed by A-list sluggers, outfielders and pitchers. But Ohtani’s endorsement income – estimated by Sportico at $125 million for 2026 – towers by more than $100 million over everyone else in the league.

For the third straight year, Ohtani’s #17 jersey remains atop the bestselling sports jerseys. He is the face of Japan’s No. 1 green tea brand, Ito En, as well as a key brand partner of Seiko Watch Corp, Japan Airlines, Kirin spirits and other top Japanese brands, per Sportico.

In 2024, Ohtani also vaulted into Major League Baseball’s record books as the first player with 50 home runs and 50 steals in a season in baseball history. Even with his brand prowess, Kasten emphasizes, it all starts with his incredible skill on the diamond.

“If Shohei was just a celebrity, that wouldn’t have made him important for us to join, but he is able to impact as a hitter,” Kasten tells Variety. “When you have someone in the middle of the lineup, he impacts the players in front of him, because the pitchers don’t want those guys to get on base. He impacts the guys behind him, because now those guys have a guy on base to try to knock in. He’s a power hitter who also gets on base so much that we want him batting leadoff over the course of the season.” 

“He is the rarest of players who actually moves the needle as an individual player. That’s very rare when we get to business,” Kasten says.

 The arrival of Ohtani to the Dodgers in 2024 sent the number of Asian American fans into “hyperspace.”

“You just have to look around our stadium to see what he has done for the sponsorship business. Brands are clamoring to sponsor signs when the team goes on the road,” Kasten says, “Companies that have not been able to get in on Dodger signs go to visiting cities to get signs behind home plate. In one city or another, you’ll see a Japanese sign because that sponsor couldn’t get in on Dodger signage.”

 Their latest and most significant sponsorship is the collaboration with Uniqlo. Dodger Stadium is now formally known as Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.

 Kristen McCowan, the Dodgers’ VP of Government Affairs and Community Relations, has seen the reverberating impact. The Dodgers have long been hometown heroes – since the franchise relocated from Brooklyn in 1958 – but Ohtani is proving to be a transformative force. “I believe, throughout the L.A. region and beyond, that inspires hope and excellence,” McCowan says. Last year, she says, the Dodgers provided over $5 million worth of support to organizations in and around communities. “There’s this desire to engage with, to partner with, to be part of, to have the Dodgers touch anything.”

Over the years, Kasten and the team behind the scenes have been working on expanding the international footprint across Europe and Asia. Ohtani, of course, has accelerated this process. “Our Asian coverage has exploded,” he says. “The last two World Series in Japan had more viewers than in Los Angeles. It has now set the stage for even greater growth.”