Shohei Ohtani's 10-year 700 million contract hits a new high! The average salary surpasses Brown's, and the NBA will soon break the record?

On December 10, Beijing time, Shohei Ohtani agreed to sign a 10-year contract worth $700 million with the Dodgers. This contract set a new record for MLB (Major League Baseball). The American media compared the salary records of the other three major leagues (NBA, NFL and NHL) for the first time to see how fierce Shohei Ohtani's big contract is.

First, Shohei Ohtani's contract breaks the contract signed by former teammate Mike Trout in 2019, when Trout signed a 12-year, $426.5 million contract with an average annual salary of $35.5 million. Before Shohei Ohtani officially signed the contract, there was a lot of speculation in the foreign media that he was destined to break Trout's record given his stability and talent. And that's true, just as Shohei Ohtani has broken a lot of MLB game records before, and his salary has hit a new high.

Let's take a look at the current records of the other three major leagues -

NBA: Jaylen Brown $303.7 million over 5 years (average salary of $60.7 million)

The NBA's salary cap is usually shorter than MLB's, but the average salary is usually higher, and Brown signed the big contract with the Celtics in July 2023, which is currently the highest total contract in the NBA. However, given the NBA's annual salary cap and the imminent signing of new media deals, Brown's record will soon be broken. The NBA expects players to exceed Ohtani's annual salary in the near future, and of course, at the moment, Ohtani's average salary and years of service are better than Jaylen Brown's.

NFL: Patrick Mahomes $450 million over 10 years (average salary of $45 million)

Mahomes signed a contract with the Chiefs in 2020, the largest in the history of professional sports in North America. At that time, only Messi and Ronaldo in Europe surpassed him. Ohtani's new contract clearly surpasses Mahomes in many ways, not only because the total value is higher, but also because the entire contract is guaranteed, and although Mahomes and the Chiefs restructured the contract in March 2023, he still can't beat Ohtani.

NHL: Alexander Ovikin 13 years $124 million (average salary $9.5 million)

Ovikin's contract is the only one on this list that has been executed. The 38-year-old is still playing for Washington Capitals. It remains the largest contract in NHL history. The NHL is the smallest of the four leagues and has the lowest revenue, and the contract amount reflects that.