I’ll get to the big octopus soon, but I’d like to start with the Golden Ticket.
Baseball’s golden ticket, that is. Major League Baseball has a once-in-a-lifetime player in the World Series, a once-in-a-generation matchup between the Titans, and a return to at least some of the veracity behind the phrase “National Baseball.” There is a great opportunity. Entertainment. ”
Shohei Ohtani will become the first player in the league’s 148-year history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season, and will stand on baseball’s greatest stage for the first time.
Mr. Otani! Judge Aaron! Dodgers! New York Yankees! Last century, this World Series would have sold on its own.
today? Even Dodgers and Yankees pitcher Brandon McCarthy, one of the most observant former players, has plenty of skepticism.
McCarthy’s X post about this World Series: “Yankees/Dodgers. Ohtani & Betts/Judge & Soto. MLB better get ready to sell. This has to be a national discussion. .”
This was handled by MLB marketing personnel.
“I wholeheartedly agree with his tweet,” said Noah Garden, MLB’s deputy commissioner of business and media.
We often hear about ratings increases during the World Series. Don’t worry about it. Of course, even more people will be watching this year. Competing teams represent the two largest cities in the United States.
This century, while football has dominated our sporting lives, baseball has regressed to local dominance. Although they watch their home team play every day and all summer long, casual fans have little interest in the other 29 teams or their star players.
Baseball isn’t dead. But unless MLB can capitalize on a World Series featuring two of its most valuable players and two of its most iconic teams, the national conversation may continue without baseball.
“Every station I turn on in the morning is talking about this,” Garden said. “Whether it’s a radio station, a TV station, a news program.
“This is clearly a breakthrough. This is part of a national conversation. Whether it’s the exorbitant ticket prices or the excitement of watching Ohtani on a national stage for the first time, there really is a lot going on.”
I live in New York, so of course I have a garden. But he claims he’s hearing similar stories from “everywhere,” meaning all over the United States and even in Japan.
Since the start of the postseason, the league has featured video spots of Ohtani and Judge with the slogan “Once in a Lifetime.” Twice. ” This spot will appear not only on postseason broadcasts, but also on football broadcasts, Netflix, TikTok, and YouTube.
The league has purchased digital billboards for high-profile locations such as New York’s Times Square and Los Angeles’ Globe, and plans to hold a promotion at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Friday. The league also installed 113 digital billboards in Tokyo, with 113 representing Ohtani’s total stolen bases (59) and home runs (54).
On social media, the league is mobilizing content creators who specialize in younger audiences, who are far more likely to watch their phones than TV. They not only talk about baseball, but also the culture and music of the West Coast and East Coast.
Aaron Judge of the Yankees celebrates by holding up a bottle of champagne with his teammates in the clubhouse after defeating the Guardians to advance to the World Series.
(Godofredo A. Vasquez/Associated Press)
What Ohtani and Judge can offer is an opportunity for personalities to transcend the sport in a way that casual basketball fans might embrace Kobe or Shaq without having to acquire any knowledge of the Lakers or the NBA.
Ohtani sold the most MLB jerseys this season. Judge ranked him third behind Bryce Harper. As regional sports networks fold and MLB hopes to launch a national streaming package, the league will embrace players fans can identify by name, even if they don’t play for their team. There is a need.
“You’ve got kids walking around wearing Judge and Ohtani jerseys, not just in New York or Los Angeles. It’s the beginning of that transition,” Garden said. “If this helps accelerate it, which I hope based on what we’re seeing, it just continues to propel our sport nationally and internationally.”
“That’s our strategy.”
The Dodgers have already implemented the Ohtani strategy and are winning.
Game 1 of the National League Championship Series was played more often in Japan than in the United States, even though the game was played on a Sunday night in Japan, which has one-third the population of the United States, and on Monday morning there. A large number of people watched the game.
Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s shirts and jerseys are on display at the team store kiosk in the Dodger Stadium concourse.
(Bill Shakin/Los Angeles Times)
When the Dodgers open the season in Japan next March, they may open as World Series champions and celebrate the return of the world’s best player.
Although Ohtani hasn’t pitched this season, he’s still a dual-purpose player, serving as a designated hitter and a tourist.
“It’s unbelievable,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said. “You can’t go to any part of the ballpark all day without running into a tour group.”
The Dodgers have led the league in home attendance every year since 2013, and have also led the league in road attendance.
Corporate sponsors who want to participate in Ohtanimania without paying a full season fee will buy advertising from opposing teams for the few games that Ohtani might play at visiting ballparks, rather than the 80 regular season games that Ohtani could play at Dodger Stadium. did.
Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge is one of the many storylines MLB will heavily promote during the World Series.
Don’t worry about the Dodgers. In the first eight weeks of this season alone, the Dodgers announced sponsorship deals with 10 Japanese companies.
Ohtani’s former employer, the Angels, generated between $10 million and $20 million a year in Japanese sponsorship revenue. In Ohtani’s first season in Los Angeles, the Dodgers earned well over $50 million in Japanese sponsorship revenue.
Ohtani agreed to play for $2 million this season, allowing the Dodgers to defer the remaining $68 million and allocate the money to strengthen their roster. Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s contract bonus: $50 million.
Sportico reports that Ohtani has earned an estimated $65 million in sponsorships himself, with millions more since then. The next closest MLB players on the Sportico list are Harper at $7 million and Judge at $6 million.
The Dodgers are sponsored by not one, but two Asian airlines. Japan Airlines is not one of them, but JAL has a contract with Otani and MLB. The company recently decorated one of its planes with Ohtani’s image and named it the “Dream Sho Jet.”
The Dodgers already have a notable history in Japan, dating back to the team’s road trip for exhibition games and the signing of Hideo Nomo.
Kasten said: “This is a very good thing for MLB. The international sponsorship business is also expanding. It’s money that we all share. So this has been a good thing overall. Shohei Profile, Dodgers , and our combined history is an example of baseball at its best.”
The Dodgers’ mission in Japan is clear. The goal is to become the team of choice for Japanese players and fans, making the Dodgers logo as ubiquitous in Japan as the Yankees logo has been a global cultural icon for decades.
A sign in the Dodger Stadium concourse explains to fans the ingredients of the Japanese street food takoyaki.
(Bill Shakin/Los Angeles Times)
And if Japanese fans are going to flock to Dodger Stadium, you’ll want to feed them. So, back to the thick octopus.
As you walk down the field-level concourse, you’ll see mobile merchandise stands selling T-shirts and jerseys. Most are named Otani, some are named Yamamoto, and very few are named by other people. Not even Betts. (Larger team stores have a wider selection.)
In addition to sushi, you will also find stalls selling Asian food and drinks. One of the offerings, takoyaki, is sold next to a colorful poster explaining that takoyaki is a “beloved Japanese street food and fritters topped with a variety of delicious toppings.”
What’s inside? Thick octopus sashimi.
