Who is More Popular: Shohei Ohtani or Patrick Mahomes?

The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback has a slight advantage in the U.S., but Shohei Ohtani owns the distinction internationally.

Dec 21, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani attends the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Shohei Ohtani’s ninth-inning walk-off homer Wednesday night improved the Dodgers to 8-0, the best season start by a defending World Series champion in baseball history. Before the game, fans hoping for an Ohtani bobblehead camped outside Dodger Stadium, resembling Chiefs supporters awaiting the opening of gameday parking lots.

Patrick Mahomes has led the Chiefs to five Super Bowls in six years, winning three of them. And the trade Kansas City made to move up and draft the quarterback in 2017 changed the course and global impact of the Chiefs franchise.

So, which professional athlete is more popular, Ohtani or Mahomes?

“If we're talking worldwide star, it's Shohei Ohtani,” said three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth on Thursday’s edition of Breakfast Ball. “Domestic only, it’s Patrick Mahomes. Because football, it's just bigger.”

Co-host Danny Parkins agreed, using Chicago’s most famous street as a hypothetical setting.

“If Shohei Ohtani walks down Michigan Avenue, you're positive he gets stopped constantly?” Parkins asked. “No, I don’t agree.”

Ohtani has won three MVP awards, American League Rookie of the Year, four All-Star selections, two Hank Aaron Awards, a pair of home run titles, and a World Series ring. He also signed a 10-year, $700 million contract to join the Dodgers.

Mahomes, on the other hand, has won two league MVP awards and two Super Bowl MVP honors, and garnered six Pro Bowl selections, not to mention three Super Bowl rings. The quarterback signed a 10-year, $450 million contract extension in 2020.

Mahomes reportedly earns an additional $25 million annually in endorsements that include State Farm, Oakley, Adidas and others. Ohtani, however, is reportedly estimated to earn $100 million in endorsements – more than the entire payrolls of several MLB teams. His face is everywhere in Japan, his home country.

Ohtani is 14 months older than Mahomes, and both are former pitchers. Mahomes even owns part of the team, the Kansas City Royals, that will host Ohtani’s Dodgers at Kauffman Stadium from June 27-29.

The Detroit Tigers acquired the baseball rights to Mahomes with a 37th-round selection in the 2014 June draft, but Mahomes didn’t sign.

At Whitehouse High School in East Texas, Mahomes once threw a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts as a senior pitcher. And 10 years later, broadcasters routinely compare some of his passes and arm angles to those used by shortstops turning double plays. Mahomes’ father, Pat, pitched for several teams in the majors.

Ultimately, though, at least where each athlete plays, the popularity of his sport is the reason Mahomes is more popular.

“Worldwide,” Schlereth reiterated, “it's Ohtani. But in the United States of America, where football is king, it's Mahomes.”

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