[이데일리 김성훈 기자] As a long time baseball fan, I thought about what adapter to use for it for quite some time. However, I can’t think of a proper word to describe him other than ‘the man who stepped out of a comic book’. His tall height of 193 cm, broad shoulders and warm looks, even baseball skills that don’t need words… Always active fan service and humble words and actions are bonuses. This is the story of Ohtani Shohei, who led Japan to the 2023 WBC (World Baseball Classic) championship.
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‘Collect rubbish and get lucky together’, emerged as WBC’s most popular product. Through this competition, it gives an opportunity to present it to the world. He shows ‘something that only happens in cartoons’ in reality, while performing at the top with the ‘two swords’, who doubles as a hitter and a pitcher.
Overseas, it was well received in Korea, but there was a real stir in Japan. It even feels like watching the quarter atmosphere of the Korea World Cup in 2002.
The final between WBC Japan and the United States broadcast in Japan recorded an audience rating of 42.4% (based on the Kanto region). Considering that the game was broadcast live at 8:00 am Japanese time, the ratings are amazing. The viewer rating is said to have risen to 46% the minute Ohtani confirmed the championship with the final countout.
There were also scenes he hadn’t seen for quite some time. Japanese media outlets published an ‘extra’ containing the news of the Japanese baseball team’s WBC win, and a scene was created where Japanese citizens flocked to the city center in broad daylight to buy an extra. ‘Additional! I didn’t expect to see the scene again in 2023 when people flocked to the cry of ‘extra’, saying ‘I’m different too’.
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Japan analyzes that the economic impact of winning the WBC will reach 65 billion yen (about 650 billion won). He is in the midst of analyzing the so-called ‘Otani effect’, almost doubling the estimated economic impact of 34.3 billion yen at the time of the 2017 WBC tournament, the previous tournament.
Katsuhiro Miyamoto, professor emeritus of theoretical economics at Kansai University, who is famous for his analysis of sports economics, predicted that the WBC tournament would generate an economic impact of about 65 billion yen. Professor Katsuhiro cited Ohtani as the reason for the rapid economic impact.
He said, “There was no baseball player in Japan who reached this level in the past.” Japanese media also responded that it was encouraging that female fans, who were less interested in baseball, became interested in baseball against Ohtani’s baseball skills and modesty.
In fact, according to a report by Yahoo Japan, the official sponsor of the Japanese baseball team, sporting goods company Mizuno, saw a three-fold increase in orders for uniforms and other items for the Japanese national team. The uniforms that bear Ohtani’s name sell out in a matter of hours, and they are screaming for joy for additional production. The big Japanese travel agencies are also excited. The demand to take a major league baseball trip to see Ohtani is increasing following the WBC victory.
Because of Ohtani, there was also a funny incident in the Japanese stock market. Ohtani Industrial, a steel company with the same last name as Ohtani, had nothing to do with baseball player Ohtani, but its stock price increased by more than 14% just because they have the same name.
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Ohtani, who has been in the spotlight by leading his country to the WBC championship, will become the league’s top free agent (FA) player after this season. Currently, his ransom estimated by the US sports market is between 500 million and 600 million dollars (774.5 billion won) based on a 10-year contract. It averages between $50 million and $60 million a year. He will very likely receive the highest annual salary in major league history, surpassing Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander ($43.33 million annual average), who currently have the highest annual salaries in the major leagues. meal
The $600 million budget is also quite interesting. As the pitcher and hitter show top-notch skills, the analysis suggests that the pitcher and hitter positions should each be given 300 million dollars.
Even in the advertising industry, Ohtani is a valuable body. The number of sponsors has increased to 17, including Porsche, a German sports car company that signed a new contract with last year, and Kowa, famous for Vantelin, which is effective for muscle pain and the joints. It is an established fact that the number will be more than 20 starting this year. According to Forbes, an American business magazine, Ohtani’s annual advertising sponsorship contract last year was estimated at $20 million, the highest amount ever in the major leagues.
The economic impact brought about by Ohtani’s ‘ripping off man baseball’ is significant. The domestic professional baseball, which swallowed regret in this WBC tournament, is also worth considering. We are actually witnessing how big a ripple effect one superstar can have on the baseball world at home and abroad.
There is no reason a player like Ohtani should appear in the domestic baseball world. This is because there is a precedent of achieving No. 1 on the Billboard chart and winning an Academy Award, which was unbelievable or unbelievable in the past. I look forward to the appearance of the Korean version of ‘a man torn from baseball’ with hopeful lyrics, ‘no one knows the future’.
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