Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani Boosts Another Los Angeles Institution: Tourism
The Shohei Ohtani effect on baseball has been well-documented. Between the media frenzy following his every move during free agency, the Los Angeles Dodgers breaking the bank to give him the biggest contract in the history of North American sports, and the way he dominates on the field, few have the same impact on the game as Ohtani.
Turns out, Ohtani is impacting far more than the game. He’s shown to have made a significant impact on the Los Angeles tourism industry as well. The increase in tourists coming to town has especially increased among those from Japanese, who naturally excited to see countrymen Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto with the Dodgers.
“We could be over 400,000 Japanese visitors,” Adam Burke, CEO and president of the Los Angeles Tourism Board, told Josie Huang of LAist. “It would absolutely make it one of our top four international markets.”
Ohtani has mostly proven worth the price of admission for fans coming in to see him play at Dodger Stadium. He’s slashed .322/.392/.596 through Monday’s off-day with 14 home runs, 38 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases. He’s broken the record already for most career home runs hit by a Japanese-born player in MLB, and is the early National League MVP conversation.
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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