Ohtani Reportedly Projected to Make Record $125M from Sponsors in 2026, MLB's Top Earners Revealed

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is projected to earn $125 million from sponsors and memorabilia in the 2026 season, per Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who stated that single-year figure tops anyone for an active athlete in sports history.

Ohtani will be paid $127 million in 2026 overall thanks to his $2 million salary as well. He signed a 10-year, $700 million contract before the 2024 season, but $680 million of that deal will be deferred to 2034, which starts a 10-year period where the four-time MVP will be paid $68 million annually.

Sportico listed the top 15 MLB player earners overall, and they are as follows:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers SP/DH Shohei Ohtani: $127 million ($2 million salary, $125 million endorsements)
2. New York Yankees OF Cody Bellinger: $57.5 million ($55 million salary, $2.5 million endorsements)
3. Los Angeles Dodgers OF Kyle Tucker: $56.5 million ($55 million salary, $1.5 million endorsements)
4. New York Mets OF Juan Soto: $53.9 million ($46.9 million salary, $7 million endorsements)
5. New York Yankees OF Aaron Judge: $49 million ($40 million salary, $9 million endorsements)
6. New York Mets 3B Bo Bichette: $43.5 million ($42 million salary, $1.5 million endorsements)
7. Philadelphia Phillies SP Zack Wheeler: $42.2 million ($42 million salary, $200,000 endorsements)
8. Los Angeles Angels OF Mike Trout: $39 million ($35.5 million salary, $3.5 million endorsements)
9. New York Yankees SP Gerrit Cole: $38.5 million ($36 million salary, $2.5 million endorsements)
10. Texas Rangers SP Jacob deGrom: $38.3 million ($38 million salary, $300,000 endorsements)
11. Toronto Blue Jays SP Dylan Cease: $36 million ($35 million salary, $1 million endorsements)
12. Philadelphia Phillies OF Bryce Harper: $35 million ($26 million salary, $9 million endorsements)
13. Detroit Tigers SP Tarik Skubal: $34.5 million ($32 million salary, $2.5 million endorsements)
14. Texas Rangers SS Corey Seager: $34 million ($31 million salary, $3 million endorsements)
15. Baltimore Orioles 1B Pete Alonso: $33.5 million ($31 million salary, $2.5 million endorsements)

Badenhausen provided more context on the money historically and compared his figure to those of other sports behemoths, namely Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.

"On an inflation-adjusted scale, Ohtani is still looking up at Woods' $160 million, and Michael Jordan remains the endorsement king if you count retired athletes. MJ earned an estimated $300 million in 2024, thanks to royalties on Nike's Brand Jordan business, which posted $7 billion in revenue during its latest fiscal year."

Ohtani's biggest endorsement is New Balance, but he also has deals with JAL, Seiko, Kowa, Kosé, Hugo Boss, Dip and Kirin, among others, per Badenhausen, who stated the two-time World Series champion has about 20 brand partners overall.

To put Ohtani's endorsement number in perspective, his $125 million is $79 million more combined than the 14 other players' total endorsements ($46 million) on the aforementioned top-15 list.

It's no surprise that Ohtani is an endorsement superstar given his tremendous success as a pro in Japan before dominating MLB.

The two-way star's amazing accomplishments include, but are not limited to, authoring the first ever 50-50 season in MLB history (2024), becoming the second player to win MVP in both leagues (Frank Robinson was the first) and posting perhaps the best individual game in baseball history, when he hit three home runs and threw six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts to clinch the NL pennant against the Milwaukee Brewers last year.

Ohtani will look for three straight World Series titles (and perhaps three consecutive MVP awards as well) when the Dodgers begin the 2026 season on March 26 vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks.