By now even those with a passing or even no interest in sports, or baseball in particular, are aware that 26-year-old Juan Soto just signed the most lucrative playing deal of all time: $765 million over 15 years, with a potential increase to more than $800 million if Soto doesn’t invoke the contract’s opt-out clause after year five.
The bidding war for Soto’s services reached the stratosphere primarily because he is what’s known as a generational talent. Someone who has put up incredible stats ever since making his MLB debut as a teenager and whose ceiling is nearly unlimited.
In that regard, Soto is similar to another “once-in-a-lifetime” player, Shohei Ohtani, who secured his own $700 million contract just a year ago.
But there is a key distinction between these two young stars that doesn’t have anything to do with being a two-way player (Ohtani) or having no money deferred (Soto). Since they both debuted as MLB rookies in 2018, Ohtani has far surpassed Soto in endorsement earnings.
According to Sportico’s rankings of the highest earning MLB players as of the start of the 2024 season, “Shotime” makes $65 million from his deals with brands such as New Balance, Fanatics, Mitsubishi, Japan Airlines and Seiko.
Soto, on the other hand, brought in just $3 million, all from baseball endemic partners—Under Armour, Wilson, Sorare, New Era and Topps. That was less than not only Ohtani, but also Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Corey Seager.
On the surface, this disparity doesn’t make much sense. Why doesn’t one of the most talented athletes to come along in decades have more endorsements? Why is there a 22x delta between Ohtani and Soto?
Digging deeper yields multiple possible answers to those questions and offers some important reminders about the relationship between marketers and the athletes, celebrities and influencers whose endorsements and appearances they seek.
First there are the practical reasons. Ohtani, still among only a handful of native Japanese players in MLB, is able to rely on interest from corporations based in Japan and his appeal to baseball fanatics back home as well as in the U.S. Soto, born and raised in the Dominican Republic, is a North American-only phenomenon.
Having deferred all but $2 million of his annual salary beginning this year, Ohtani is also reliant on his endorsement income to maintain a certain lifestyle. Soto’s $75 million signing bonus plus the guaranteed $51 million coming his way in 2025—on top of the $31 million he was paid in 2024—makes endorsement income a lower priority.
But more important is the fact that successful brand partnerships require more than athletic performance and achievements.
Unlike any other marketing investment, endorser/influencer partnerships must be an amalgam of 1) the athlete’s interest and desire in being a commercial star, spokesperson or brand ambassador, 2) he or she having a personality that is genuine and appealing in those roles and 3) an authentic connection between endorser and product, be it as an actual consumer/user or simply a strong alignment between attitude, attributes and other brand markers.
When you factor in all of those considerations, it becomes less of a surprise that a superstar such as Soto has endorsement income in the low seven figures. Even if his burgeoning fame sees that number grow, those factors could continue to keep his off-the-field earnings far short of Ohtani’s and others’.
That should not be taken as a sign that brands have missed the boat, nor as any shortcoming on Soto’s part by any means. It should be seen instead as a reflection of the multiple realities mentioned above and of smart decisions not to chase deals for their own sake.
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