What Shohei Ohtani Can Learn From Tiger Woods And Kobe Bryant

Forbes

There are few athletes on the planet as marketable as Shohei Ohtani. His otherworldly talent, often drawing comparisons to Babe Ruth, coupled with good looks and charisma, has made the 29-year-old Japanese superstar baseball’s preeminent pitchman—on both sides of the Pacific.  Forbes estimates Ohtani now earns $60 million annually off the field, before taxes and agents’ fees, thanks to a robust stable of sponsors that includes U.S. companies such as Fanatics, Salesforce and New Balance, as well as Japanese brands Seiko, Kosé, DIP and Nishikawa.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2024/03/26/shohei-ohtani-gambling-scandal-interpreter-ippei-mizuhara-tiger-woods-car-crash-kobe-bryant/?sh=24e4981f31d4  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes daily briefing for Wednesday, March 27th.

00:05 Today on Forbes, what Shohei Otani can learn from Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant.

00:12 There are few athletes on the planet as marketable as Shohei Otani.

00:17 His otherworldly talent, often drawing comparisons to Babe Ruth, coupled with good looks and

00:22 charisma has made the 29-year-old Japanese superstar baseball's preeminent pitchman

00:27 on both sides of the Pacific.

00:30 Forbes estimates Otani now earns $60 million annually off the field, before taxes and agents

00:36 fees, thanks to a robust stable of sponsors that includes U.S. companies such as Fanatics,

00:42 Salesforce and New Balance, as well as Japanese brands Seiko, Kosei, Dip and Nishikawa.

00:49 Otani, baseball's highest-paid player for the second consecutive year, now finds himself

00:54 in rare company.

00:56 Among active athletes, Forbes counts only four other individuals that earn $60 million

01:01 or better annually from their off-field endeavors - LeBron James, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo

01:07 and Tiger Woods.

01:09 But the two-time MVP is also facing the first real threat to his unblemished public image

01:14 and vast earnings.

01:16 Otani is embroiled in a scandal involving his former interpreter, Ipe Mizuhara, who

01:21 allegedly stole $4.5 million from him to pay off illegal gambling debts.

01:27 Sports gambling is legal in 38 states and the District of Columbia, but not California

01:31 where Otani lives and plays.

01:33 Initially, Mizuhara and a crisis spokesperson for Otani had indicated that the Japanese

01:38 superstar was helping his friend out of trouble, though oblivious to the extent.

01:43 They both later backtracked, stating that Otani had no knowledge of Mizuhara's gambling,

01:48 debts or efforts to resolve them.

01:50 In the following days, ESPN reported, through an unnamed source, that Otani's representatives

01:55 had contacted law enforcement to look into the alleged financial theft, while the IRS

02:01 and MLB each opened their own investigations.

02:04 On Monday afternoon, Otani held a press conference with a new interpreter and unequivocally denied

02:10 any knowledge of Mizuhara's actions.

02:12 In a prepared statement, he said, "On a personal note, I'm very saddened and shocked that someone

02:18 who I trusted has done this.

02:19 I do want to make it clear that I never bet on sports or have willfully sent money to

02:24 the bookmaker.

02:25 I'm going to obviously let my lawyers handle matters from here on out, and I am completely

02:29 assisting in all investigations that are taking place right now."

02:33 Otani didn't take any questions.

02:36 Of course, Otani isn't the first sports marketing superstar to face a dire threat to his carefully

02:41 protected image.

02:42 In 2009, when Tiger Woods was injured in a car crash near his home in Florida, he initially

02:47 received support from key sponsors such as Nike and Gatorade.

02:52 But as details about the then 33-year-old Woods' infidelity emerged, Gillette ended

02:56 its partnership along with AT&T, Accenture, and PepsiCo, which cost Woods an estimated

03:02 $35 million in annual income.

03:05 It hurt those companies, too.

03:07 In a study published that year, academics Christopher R. Nattel and Victor Stango wrote,

03:12 "Mr. Woods' top five sponsors, Accenture, Nike, Gillette, Electronic Arts, and Gatorade,

03:18 lost 2-3% of their aggregate market value after the accident."

03:22 It was roughly another two years before Woods added a new sponsor to his portfolio.

03:28 And while the scandalous period may have cost Woods a run at Jack Nicklaus' vaunted record

03:32 of 18 major championships, it ended up being a blip on his financial radar.

03:38 The 48-year-old golfer, who remains one of the highest paid athletes in the world, has

03:42 pulled in an estimated $1.8 billion in career pre-tax earnings.

03:47 Five years earlier, Kobe Bryant faced an image crisis of his own when he was accused of sexual

03:52 assault.

03:53 The charges were eventually dropped, and the then 25-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star settled

03:58 a civil suit from his alleged victim outside of court.

04:02 But the controversy cost him sponsorship renewals with McDonald's and Nutella.

04:07 Bryant's endorsement earnings eventually recovered, however, and he went on to retire from professional

04:11 basketball, having collected an estimated $680 million in pre-tax dollars, with more

04:17 than $350 million coming from off-the-court endeavors.

04:22 Jonathan Grella, founder of crisis communications firm JAG Public Affairs, says, "Time helps.

04:29 Being able to have a full career afterwards helps a lot, and as best as we can tell, Otani

04:34 is likely to have a decade and a half more of baseball in him, which should work to his

04:39 benefit."

04:41 For full coverage, check out Justin Birnbaum's piece on Forbes.com.

04:47 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:49 Thanks for tuning in.

04:50 "I'm a big fan of Justin's."

Category

Transcript

Recommended