Shohei Ohtani’s impact on baseball is well known: from the media frenzy following his every move during free agency, to the huge cash outlay from the Los Angeles Dodgers to give him the richest contract in North American sports history, to his dominating presence on the field, few players have influenced the game more than Ohtani.
As it turns out, Ohtani appears to be impacting a lot more than just the game. He has also been shown to have a major impact on Los Angeles’ tourism industry. Tourism in town has increased, especially among Japanese people, who are naturally excited to see their compatriots Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto join the Dodgers.
“We could see more than 400,000 Japanese tourists,” Adam Burke, CEO and president of the Los Angeles Tourism Board, told LAist’s Josie Huang, “which would certainly put Japan in our top four international markets.”
Ohtani has proven worth the price of admission for the fans who flocked to Dodger Stadium to watch him play. Before Monday’s rest day, he was batting .322/.392/.596 with 14 home runs, 38 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. He’s already broken the MLB career home run record by a Japanese player and is an early candidate for the National League MVP.
Photo credit: Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports
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