Shohei Ohtani’s contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers is a 10‑year, 700 million dollar deal, the largest contract in sports history by total value.

Core contract numbers

  • Length: 10 years with the Dodgers.
  • Total value: 700 million dollars guaranteed over the life of the contract.
  • Nominal average annual value (AAV): 70 million dollars per year on paper.

Wild deferral structure

  • Ohtani defers 68 million of the 70 million each year, taking only 2 million in actual cash salary per season from 2024–2033.
  • The deferred money totals 680 million dollars, paid out from 2034 through 2043 without interest at 68 million per year.

Competitive balance tax impact

  • Because so much is deferred, the present‑day value of the contract is estimated around 460 million dollars for luxury tax purposes.
  • This translates to an effective competitive balance tax hit of roughly 46 million dollars per year over the 10 seasons, not the full 70 million.

Why the structure matters

  • The structure gives the Dodgers more payroll flexibility to keep adding stars around Ohtani while he plays his prime years in Los Angeles.
  • Reports note that this extreme level of deferral was proposed by Ohtani himself, emphasizing his priority on building a winning team.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.