Sports
Commentary: Agent Nez Balelo 'wouldn't do anything different' with Shohei Ohtani's $700-million deal
The business of sports often is cloaked in secrecy. You can find out the salary of your favorite player, but how much money his team makes and how much money he makes off the field are the stuff of estimates, not public discourse.
Not on Thursday, though. Is Shohei Ohtani really making more than $100 million this year in endorsements?
Nez Balelo, the agent for Ohtani, did not hesitate.
“Absolutely,” Balelo said at Sportico’s Invest West conference at Intuit Dome.
Balelo is not, shall we say, Scott Boras. He does not embrace public speaking. So we dropped by to hear what Balelo had to say after the first full season of Ohtani’s record-breaking $700-million contract with the Dodgers.
The record did not last long. Juan Soto signed for $765 million with the New York Mets last winter.
And, because Ohtani deferred $680 million and Soto deferred $0, and because a dollar today is worth more than a dollar 10 years from today, the actual value of Soto’s contract is $765 million and the actual value of Ohtani’s contract is $460 million.
Regrets?
“Not at all,” Balelo said. “We wouldn’t do anything different. He won a championship. He went to the right team. Why would we do anything different? No regrets. Nothing.”
Not even about the Angels, the team with which Ohtani chose to play the first six seasons of his major league career. The Angels never posted a winning record with Ohtani, let alone won a championship.
They did, however, stand by their commitment to let Ohtani bloom as a two-way player, even after his first Cactus League season was so rough they fielded questions about whether they would demote him to the minor leagues.
“If we had to do it all over again today, we would have done it exactly the same way,” Balelo said. “We would have chosen the Angels back in the day. It was the right place, with the group and Mike (Scioscia) and the whole team over there. They gave him an opportunity. They stuck with him. He had a tough spring. It was the right home for him at the time.”
“The Dodgers are the right home for him now.”
It was with the Angels — and in particular in 2021, when Ohtani won his first most valuable player award — that he blossomed into what Balelo called a “global superstar.”
However, before the start of his final season with the Angels, Balelo and Ohtani decided there would be no talks about an extension.
“We knew we were going to exercise our rights to go into free agency,” Balelo said.
The Angels opted to try to win with Ohtani in 2023 rather than trade him for a desperately needed infusion of young talent. They were three games out of a playoff spot at the end of July and traded prospects for rental help, then finished 16 games out of a playoff spot.
Balelo would not say exactly how many companies Ohtani endorses but put the number in the “low 20s.”
“It’s not like I’m out there pounding the pavement and soliciting companies,” Balelo said. “After 2021 and 2022, we could have really gone crazy. That’s not who he is. He doesn’t want that.”
He is everywhere in Japan, in advertisements above street crossings and at the airport, on television and in magazines. He endorses shoes and skin care products, airlines and watches and so much more.
An electronic billboard spanning nearly a city block featured advertising starring Shohei Ohtani near the Tokyo Dome in March, when the Dodgers were in town to play the Chicago Cubs to open the season.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“We have to make sure we don’t overexpose him,” Balelo said.
Say what?
“We could probably have 40 or 50 deals,” Balelo said.
That $100 million in endorsement income enabled Ohtani to offer the Dodgers — and other free-agent finalists, including the Angels — the same deal: $700 million, with $680 deferred. The Angels declined. On Thursday, Balelo condemned what he called the “reckless reporting” of Ohtani’s alleged flight to Toronto to sign with the Blue Jays.
The Dodgers took the deal, promising to use the money they would not be spending on Ohtani right away to sign other players.
“They get it,” Balelo said. “They have the vision.”
Within two weeks of signing Ohtani, they had spent more than $450 million on pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.
“He knew the marketing leg was doing extremely well,” Balelo said. “He knew it was not about the money. It was more about getting with a team that would appreciate him and understand him and allow him to develop as a two-way player.”
With Ohtani coming off his second elbow reconstruction, Balelo said he wondered whether teams might recruit him only as a hitter. As it turned out, he said, none made such an offer.
Balelo said he could have pursued deals of as many as 15 years, and maybe even longer, but Ohtani rejected those overtures. When his contract with the Dodgers expires, he’ll be 39.
“He just didn’t want to have the end of his storybook career tail off,” Balelo said, “and then in Year 13, 14 and 15: ‘Who is this guy? He can’t even run down to first.’”
That raises the possibility that Balelo already has negotiated Ohtani’s last playing contract, even though Ohtani is 30.
Ohtani already has won three MVP awards, all unanimously. He would have won a fourth if not for Aaron Judge breaking the American League home run record in 2022. No one besides Barry Bonds has won more than three.
So Balelo might not be done negotiating on Ohtani’s behalf after all. The Cooperstown marketing deals await but, fortunately for the Dodgers, not any time soon.
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The Seattle Seahawks locked down the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season finale win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, clinching 14 wins for the first time ever.
The Seahawks held on to a 10-point victory despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173, and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on Jan. 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers wasted their best drive of the night as well when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, which seemingly secured the game for the Seahawks.
NFL WEEK 17 SCORES: AFC NORTH, NFC SOUTH UP FOR GRABS AS PLAYOFF PICTURE ALMOST COMPLETE
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week-18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for the top seed against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “Learning from mistakes, and staying calm from the pocket,” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to a year ago, in a postgame interview with ESPN.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, and took a big hit on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle ran the clock out.
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When it’s Harvey Kitani versus David Rebibo in a high school basketball coaching matchup, you know it’s going to be a defensive grind. They demand defensive production, so Rolling Hills Prep and Harvard-Westlake went at it for 32 minutes on Saturday night at St. Francis.
It took four consecutive free throws by Joe Sterling in the final 21 seconds for Harvard-Westlake (17-2) to hold on for a 50-46 victory. About the only mistake Rolling Hills Prep (13-5) made was choosing to foul Sterling, well known as a clutch free-throw shooter. But the Huskies had no choice after a three by Aaron Heinze got them to within 48-46 with 2.6 seconds left.
Sterling finished with 16 points. Pierce Thompson had 14 points and Dominique Bentho added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Welch Jr. had a big game for Rolling Hills Prep with 21 points on eight-for-14 shooting. Carter Fulton added 10 points.
Santa Margarita 72, Fairfax 41: The Eagles (19-2) opened a 21-2 lead after the first quarter and cruised to victory at St. Francis. Brayden Kyman scored 21 points, Kaiden Bailey had 17 and Drew Anderson had 15.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 67, JSerra 62: Kayleb Kearse finished with 27 points in the victory. Jaden Bailes had 30 points for JSerra.
Sierra Canyon 77, Phoenix St. Mary’s 45: The Trailblazers (13-1) tuned up for the start of Mission League play with a rout in Arizona. Brandon McCoy scored 18 points and Brannon Martinsen had 17.
Chaminade 70, Palos Verdes 44: Temi Olafisoye had 17 points for the 18-1 Eagles.
Thousand Oaks 53, Oak Park 46: The Lancers won their 16th consecutive game to stay unbeaten. Gabriel Chin had 14 points.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 67, Layton Christian (Utah) 64: NaVorro Bowman led the Knights (13-4) with 24 points. Josiah Nance added 16 points.
Bishop Montgomery 71, Palisades 68: Austin Kirksey had 24 points and Tarron Williams scored 22 points to help Bishop Montgomery improve to 15-2. Freshman Phillip Reed scored 24 points for Palisades.
Crespi 60, Modesto Christian 49: The Celts improved to 13-6.
St. John Bosco 62, Chandler (Ariz.) Basha 54: Christian Collins scored 31 points and Max Ellis had 22 for the Braves in a win in Arizona.
Mayfair 69, Cypress 56: Josiah Johnson’s 27 points helped Mayfair improve to 8-5.
Inglewood 98, Pasadena 97: Jason Crowe Jr. made the game-winning shot in overtime and finished with 51 points for Inglewood.
Girls basketball
Harvard-Westlake 51, Phoenix Desert Vista 39: Freshman Lucia Khamenia finished with 24 points for Harvard-Westlake.
Brentwood 59, Cardinal Newman 53: The Eagles improved to 9-4. Kelsey Sugar scored 24 points.
Saugus 57, Birmingham 52: Kayla Tanijiri had 16 points for Birmingham (13-3).
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Only one more week of the 2025 NFL regular season remains, as Week 17 brought about some more playoff implications and even 2026 NFL Draft key positions.
The biggest takeaway from the slate of Week 17 is that two divisions in the NFL — the AFC North and NFC South — will be determined by whoever wins key matchups in Week 18.
First, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers getting upset by the Cleveland Browns at home, as Aaron Rodgers couldn’t find Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a controversial game-ending play in the end zone. That loss sets up the AFC North title game between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, which is only possibly thanks to a road victory where Derrick Henry scored four touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers.
Then, despite both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers losing their respective matchups, the NFL tiebreakers make their Week 18 bout the NFC South title game.
Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts during the second quarter of the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field on Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
And while everyone was focused on the NFL playoff picture, the two-game 4 o’clock slate gave us the New York Giants against the Las Vegas Raiders, the winner of which owning the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
The Giants would’ve solidified the pick with a loss, but Jaxson Dart and the Giants’ offense blew out Geno Smith and the Raiders to relinquish the pick, which now belongs in Sin City.
NFL WEEK 16 SCORES: PLAYOFF PRESSURE LEADS TO THRILLING FINISHES ACROSS LEAGUE
Here’s how every NFL game played out:
THURSDAY, DEC. 25
– DALLAS COWBOYS 30, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS 23
– MINNESOTA VIKINGS 23, DETROIT LIONS 10
– DENVER BRONCOS 20, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 13
Dak Prescott (4) of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates after his team’s touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second quarter of a game at Northwest Stadium on Dec. 25, 2025 in Landover, Maryland. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
SATURDAY, DEC. 27
– HOUSTON TEXANS 20, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS 16
– BALTIMORE RAVENS 41, GREEN BAY PACKERS 24
SUNDAY, DEC. 28
– CINCINNATI BENGALS 37, ARIZONA CARDINALS 14
– CLEVELAND BROWNS 13, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 7
– NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 34, TENNESSEE TITANS 26
– JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 23, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 17
– MIAMI DOLPHINS 20, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 17
– NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 42, NEW YORK JETS 10
– SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 27, CAROLINA PANTHERS 10
– NEW YORK GIANTS 34, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS 10
– PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 13, BUFFALO BILLS 12
– SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS-CHICAGO BEARS (TBD)
Bundle FOX One and FOX Nation to stream the entire FOX Nation library, plus live FOX News, Sports, and Entertainment at our lowest price of the year. The offer ends on Jan. 4, 2026. (Fox One; Fox Nation)
MONDAY, DEC. 29
– LOS ANGELES RAMS-ATLANTA FALCONS (TBD)
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