Dodgers Have 2 of World's Top 25 Highest-Paid Athletes, Per Latest Report

The Los Angeles Dodgers spend as much as any team in Major League Baseball.

According to the latest report, they appear to be spending as much as any professional team in all of sports, too.

Forbes recently ranked the highest-paid athletes in professional sports, totaling both on- and off-the-field earnings in 2026. The Dodgers were the only North American professional sports team with two players in the top 25, with Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker.

However, there is a caveat, as Ohtani is only earning $2 million from the Dodgers in 2026. He's still the fifth-highest paid athlete in the world, thanks to $125.6 million in earnings off the field.

As for Tucker, he's earning just $1 million off the field. The remaining $68 million he's getting in 2026 is coming from the Dodgers. (The only other baseball player in the top 50 was Bo Bichette of the New York Mets, who's earning $54.8 million in 2026 — with $54.4 million of that coming from the Mets.)

While the Dodgers are sparing no expenses in their quest for World Series titles, it's safe to say their investments have paid enough.

On the field, the Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series titles, and have turned themselves into the modern day Evil Empire in MLB.

The Dodgers are so dominant that MLB owners have cried for a salary cap, which could lead to a work stoppage at the end of the 2026 season.

That's not the only way the Dodgers are winning, though.

Off the field, the Dodgers are generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, in large part thanks to Ohtani.

Sports Illustrated insider Tom Verducci reported earlier this year that the Dodgers were making more than $200 million off Ohtani alone on a yearly basis.

"I was told that the Dodgers are making at least $200 million a year off Ohtani," Verducci said on The Baseball Insiders. "Off of one player. That’s just crazy. It allows them payroll room to sign players like [Blake] Snell, [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto and everybody else they’ve brought in."

After signing Ohtani to a then-MLB record 10-year, $700 million, the Dodgers doubled down, adding Japanese superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million deal, which made him the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history.

Yamamoto went on to win the World Series MVP award in 2025, carrying the Dodgers to a second straight championship by pitching three times in the seven-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Dodgers have continued to reload each year, signing the best closer on the market (Edwin Díaz) and the best player on the market in Tucker this past offseason. Díaz got a three-year, $69 million deal, while Tucker received a four-year, $240 million deal.

The offseason after winning their first World Series in 2024, the Dodgers signed Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million deal and added Roki Sasaki.

The Dodgers are continuing to invest in their product, and it's resulting in historic dominance.

Last year, the Dodgers became the first team in 25 years to win back-to-back World Series titles. This year, they're looking to become the first National League team to ever win three in a row.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has said he wants to make this the golden era of Dodger Baseball.

It's safe to say he's putting his money — well, the Dodgers' money — where his mouth is.

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