Shohei Ohtani Tops Forbes MLB Earnings List, Endorsements Fuel Record $127 Million

Shohei Ohtani collected a $2 million paycheck from the Los Angeles Dodgers last week. His total earnings for 2026 are projected at $127 million.

That $125 million gap between what baseball owes him and what the world is willing to pay him sits at the center of Forbes' annual ranking of the sport's highest earners, released this week. The 31-year-old two-way star is set to collect an estimated $127 million in 2026 before taxes and agents' fees, a record for a baseball player, with roughly $125 million of that coming from endorsement deals, licensing, memorabilia and other business ventures, with roughly two dozen sponsors in the United States and Japan paying a heavy premium to associate with him.

The single-year endorsement tally is more than any other athlete in the history of sports. To put the scale in perspective, Ohtani's $125 million is $79 million more than the combined endorsement totals of the other 14 players on the top-15 list. Since Forbes began tracking athletes' earnings in 1990, only one active athlete has surpassed his projected off-field total in a single year: MMA star Conor McGregor, who brought in an estimated $158 million over the 12 months ending in May 2021, almost all of it from the sale of his Irish whiskey brand, Proper No. Twelve.

The contract architecture underpinning all of this is equally striking. Ohtani will receive only $2 million in playing salary from the Dodgers this year, due to the unique nature of his 10-year, $700 million contract signed in 2023, which called for $680 million of the pact to be deferred until 2034, when he will receive $68 million annually for 10 years. That $2 million cash salary ranks 17th among Dodgers players, yet the endorsement haul puts Ohtani atop MLB's highest-paid players for the third time in four years. Juan Soto held the top spot in 2025.

The brand partnerships driving those numbers span two continents. Ohtani's biggest endorsement is New Balance, but he also has deals with JAL, Seiko, Kowa, Kosé, Hugo Boss, Dip and Kirin, among others, giving him about 20 brand partners overall. In December, Japanese probiotic firm Kirin signed Ohtani as its "Immune Care" ambassador and launched a nationwide ad campaign featuring him.

The on-field performance sustaining that commercial appeal is just as remarkable. Ohtani made unprecedented feats look routine, including when he pitched six scoreless innings and hit three home runs in the Dodgers' pennant-clinching game against the Milwaukee Brewers, and brands continue clamoring for his services as a result. Ohtani led Los Angeles to consecutive World Series titles, returning to the mound in mid-2025 and finishing the regular season with a 2.87 ERA over 14 starts before going 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA in the postseason as the Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games.

Ohtani's $127 million projected earnings exceed the combined totals of the second- and third-ranked players on the Forbes list, with Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker set to bank $112.5 million between them.

Bellinger ranks second in 2026 at $57.5 million, including endorsements, after returning to the Yankees as one of the most sought-after free agents this offseason via a five-year, $162.5 million contract that included a $20 million signing bonus and a first-year salary of $32.5 million. In January, Bellinger also pocketed a $2.5 million buyout tied to the contract he originally signed with the Chicago Cubs in 2024, which pushed his 2026 on-field pay to $55 million.

Rounding out the top five are Kyle Tucker at $56.5 million, Juan Soto at $53.9 million and Aaron Judge at $49 million. Combined, MLB's ten highest-paid players are expected to make $537 million in 2026, the second-highest figure Forbes has measured since it began publishing a baseball earnings ranking in 2011.

New York and Los Angeles dominate the sport's biggest earners, with franchises in those cities home to 10 of the 15 highest salaries this year by luxury-tax cap calculations. The earnings figures are based on cash payouts in 2026 and are reported before taxes and agent fees; off-field estimates were compiled through conversations with those familiar with MLB endorsement deals and include income from memorabilia, appearances, media and business ventures tied to each player's celebrity.

Ohtani is scheduled to make his first regular-season pitching start of 2026 on March 31 against the Cleveland Guardians, adding another layer to a season that, financially at least, he has already won.