Located in one of the world’s top media markets, Los Angeles offers immense commercial upside thanks to its diverse population and elite sports franchises. With Japan’s Shohei Ohtani starring for Major League Baseball’s Dodgers franchise and Korea’s Son Heung-Min leading soccer side LAFC, these Asian superstars are helping brands bridge their home audiences with global reach. The players’ cultural appeal boosts visibility, drives sponsorship demand, and connects Asian companies directly with engaged US and international fanbases via world-class platforms.
Inside the Los Angeles Sports Market
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Los Angeles is one of the world’s most desirable sports markets, combining huge media reach, a wide cultural diversity, and unmatched commercial upside. As the US’s second biggest TV market, it can support multiple major-league franchises with substantial fanbases, strong attendance, and premium sponsorship revenue. The region’s marquee teams include the Lakers and Clippers in basketball’s NBA, the Rams and Chargers in American football’s NFL, and the Dodgers and Angels in baseball’s MLB—each benefiting from a global spotlight. Another Los Angeles team that has become a success story is Los Angeles FC (LAFC). Since its inception in 2018, the club has established itself as one of the most successful and valuable franchises in Major League Soccer (MLS), often cited as the league’s most successful team in recent years. In a short timeframe, LAFC has combined winning soccer with superstar signings—Gareth Bale and, most recently, Son Heung-min—and impressive commercial growth, culminating in a valuation north of $1 billion.
This platform also magnifies the commercial impact of star Asian athletes, turning sporting relevance into international demand. Shohei Ohtani offers the clearest recent example. After his 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers in December 2023, the “Ohtani Effect” helped attract new Japanese sponsors, expand Japan-focused in-stadium branding, boost merchandise sales, and further widen the Dodgers’ global reach. Son’s arrival at LAFC in 2025 has produced similar momentum—lifting ticket demand, setting new jersey-sales benchmarks, and driving a surge in Korea-based engagement that has helped unlock new partnerships. While Yao Ming never played in Los Angeles, his eight seasons with the Houston Rockets—and the endorsement-led surge he sparked in China in the early 2000s—helped establish the modern blueprint for connecting Asian markets with US sports franchises. It’s a playbook Los Angeles teams are now implementing aggressively.
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers’ Surge in Japanese Sponsorship
Shohei Ohtani’s arrival in Los Angeles has significantly strengthened the Dodgers’ ability to attract Asian—especially Japanese—sponsors. The club now counts five Japanese partnerships—Kosé Corporation, ITO EN, JTB, Hakkaisan, and Tokyo Electron—worth a combined $6.40 million per year. ITO EN is the clearest signal of Ohtani’s commercial pull: it maintains three separate agreements across MLB, Shohei Ohtani, and the Dodgers valued at a combined $8.63 million annually, reflecting a deliberate push to scale the brand in the US market. By leveraging Ohtani’s cross-cultural appeal, ITO EN links Japanese tea heritage with US wellness and authenticity trends, activating campaigns across Japan, the US, and China to reach MLB’s growing international and Asian American audiences.
Ohtani offers these brands not just world-class athlete representation, but a cultural bridge. ITO EN’s Dodgers partnership explicitly leverages his profile to link brand messaging between Japan and the U.S. Similarly, Kosé’s extended deal incorporates visual elements tied to Ohtani’s on-field moments, while Hakkaisan secured the role of the Dodgers’ exclusive sake partner, enabling co-branded products and activations both inside Dodger Stadium and through broader Southern California retail.
Over the long term, this pattern of Japanese corporate investment could meaningfully shift the Dodgers’ commercial strategy. The team is increasingly positioned to deepen its appeal in Japan through multilingual marketing, Japan-focused stadium activations, targeted merchandise, and product collaborations designed to resonate as strongly in Tokyo as they do in Los Angeles. In that sense, the “Ohtani effect” looks less like a temporary spike and more like a durable pathway to sustained revenue growth and fan development across the Pacific.
Son Heung-min Boosts LAFC’s Commercial Appeal in South Korea
Son Heung-min’s arrival at LAFC in August 2025 has quickly increased the club’s appeal to South Korean brands. In February 2026, LAFC announced a new partnership with the Seoul Tourism Organization, valued at $0.6 million for 2026. The deal places the “Seoul My Soul” brand in Apple TV match broadcasts and in prominent outdoor inventory across BMO Stadium. In December 2025, Paris Baguette signed a 2026 season partnership worth roughly $0.5 million with the club. Together, these two South Korea–headquartered deals are clear early indicators that Son’s presence is translating into incremental sponsorship demand from Korean businesses looking to associate with his profile and fanbase.
This pattern mirrors Son Heung-min’s impact at English Premier League soccer team Tottenham Hotspur. His presence helped raise Spurs’ profile in South Korea and made the club a more credible platform for Korean corporate marketing. Since he arrived in 2015, Tottenham have signed commercial partnerships with six South Korean companies, including global giants such as Samsung and LG Electronics. Son’s influence also appears to have shaped the club’s pre-season strategy: Spurs have played in South Korea four times since 2017, underscoring how a single star can materially expand a club’s commercial footprint in an overseas market.
With Son now playing in Los Angeles, similar audience and commerce dynamics are emerging. LAFC has benefited from increased attention across Korean media channels and fan communities, while Son-related merchandise demand has surged, with his shirt selling out quickly and ranking among the best-selling MLS jerseys. The underlying logic for Korean brands is straightforward: Son brings immense reach and cultural relevance, enabling partners to place their products in front of highly engaged fans who follow him wherever he plays.
Long term, Son’s contract through 2027 (with options to 2029) creates a multi-year runway for LAFC to build a sustained commercial strategy in South Korea. That could include more Korean partnerships, localized content, retail and e-commerce distribution, and preseason or community activations designed to position LAFC as MLS’s most credible club brand in the Korean market.
Asian Brands Expand Their Foothold in LA Pro Sports
Asian brands are making significant inroads into the Los Angeles sports market beyond the cases of LAFC and the Dodgers, driven by globalization, cultural resonance, and, as previously mentioned, athlete-driven marketing. Japanese automotive and tech giants such as Toyota/Lexus, Sony, Bridgestone, and Toshiba have all renewed or expanded partnerships with high-profile teams, such as the Rams, Chargers, Lakers, Kings, and Clippers, and key venues. These deals typically take the form of venue naming rights or team sponsorships, emphasizing both long-term brand visibility in the US market and alignment with marquee properties.
Simultaneously, South Korean food and lifestyle firms are targeting LA’s diverse fan demographics. CJ CheilJedang’s Bibigo deal with the Lakers, announced in 2021, is particularly significant: a five-year, $100 million jersey patch contract. This deal shows how brands leverage cultural identity and emotional connection to link home markets with global audiences.
These patterns suggest that LA sports sponsorship is increasingly driven by non-endemic Asian brands seeking not just exposure but deep engagement. These partnerships are strategically linked with athlete visibility, cultural storytelling, and identity-based marketing—trends that are pushing annual sponsorship values higher as the market becomes more global and more emotionally charged.
Conclusion
Los Angeles has become a proving ground for how elite Asian talent can reshape a franchise’s international business. Ohtani’s signing has accelerated the Dodgers’ Japanese sponsorship and activation strategy, turning fandom into measurable commercial value. Son’s move to LAFC is producing a similar early pattern in South Korea, with new partnerships, heightened media attention, and immediate merchandise demand. In a market with unmatched media scale and cultural diversity, these effects compound quickly. For teams, the takeaway is clear: Global stars are no longer just performance assets—they are market-entry vehicles that can unlock durable revenue growth across the Pacific.
