Meh. They will just declare bankruptcy and MLB will let them keep 100% of everyone's media rights plus everyone else's playoff media shares to bail them out.

They are too big to fail.

I liked this comment- "just have Walter blame it on his interpreter."

F the Dodgers, amirite?

Shohei would be a free agent if owner has to sell?

Dodgers owner Mark Walter is under a federal investigation and a whole lot of pressure. He just sold the Lakers only 14 months after buying the Lakers, he is selling his shares in Chelsea FC, and well the pressure is mounting and rumors are swirling about the Dodgers. The one key… https://t.co/mnwV9ltnm5 pic.twitter.com/JqTFJ6HKcr

— George Jarjour (@GeorgeOnTap) August 19, 2026

Dodgers owner Mark Walter is under a federal investigation and a whole lot of pressure. He just sold the Lakers only 14 months after buying the Lakers, he is selling his shares in Chelsea FC, and well the pressure is mounting and rumors are swirling about the Dodgers. The one key component here is Shohei Ohtani who is owed still $680 million by the Dodgers and well most of the contract is deferred until the 2040s. These two facts belong together, because Ohtani does have the richest contract in sports history, and that contract is owned by an owner who is under federal investigation. Basically, Ohtani gave the Dodgers a loan and now it looks like he might have loaned the wrong man.

Let's break down the money. Ohtani's contract is worth around $700 million dollars but right now because of the contract's structure most people do know he takes home around $2 million a year. The rest of that money? Well it's going to according to his contract be paid out 2034 to 2043. But he's not the only Dodger whose deal is structured this way. They owe a total of over $1 billion dollars to nine different players with the payments being deferred all the way out to 2047. We all know about the infamous Bobby Bonilla day for the Mets where they pay him every July (that just ended), well the Dodgers took Bobby Bonilla day, injected it in Barry Bonds steroids and built a championship roster on layaway. They get the superstars today, the rings today, and the bill is due in the 2040s.

But one thing about deferred money and sports contracts is kind of insane. It's not secured. Many are saying that it was Ohtani's own idea to defer the money so the team could build a winner around him. Now, that may be true, but the money is not secured. Unlike most loans, there is no collateral, he doesn't have a personal guarantee on Dodger stadium or anything of that sort. All he has is a promise, and it looks like he trusted the wrong man. If something happens cash wise, Ohtani is just another creditor standing in line looking for his money.

And Walters seems to be in huge trouble. But there is one thing in Ohtani's contract that many people are missing. He has a "key-man" clause. If Walters sells the Dodgers (whether by choice or force) or if their executive Andrew Freidman leaves, Ohtani has the option to opt out of the rest of his contract. Which is funny, he wasn't trusting the Dodgers franchise, he was trusting Walters himself. And Ohtani has said he would not opt out, but when facts change, opinions can too.

So if Walter has to sell, Ohtani basically can overnight become a free agent. And with an impending lockout and Walter needing cash, I think he might have to sell. And there is a darker road to the Dodgers problems and that is bankruptcy which might seem far fetched for a pro sports franchise but the Dodgers did go bankrupt in 2011. And a team bankruptcy can ask the courts to reject a contract which basically makes the player an unsecured creditor fighting to get pennies back on his dollar. And Ohtani's $680 million with ZERO collateral? That's something that has no leverage in a courtroom.

Now none of this is a prediction, and this can all play out in Ohtani's favor, and Walters may even keep the Dodgers. But sports structure always assumes one big thing. And that is the franchise owner is stable. And that seemed like a given with Walters as he was buying assets and spending money left and right. But it's harder to believe when he is under investigation and selling everything he owns. Ohtani made a bet worth $680 million dollars that the people who run the Dodgers would be safe and good standing when he turns 40. Well, his money is riding on a promise and hope.

Work to bring back the Expos is temporarily on hold while we start up several life insurance companies

— Montreal Expos (@Montreal_Expos) August 20, 2026

Not to derail, but I never want to hear a Dodger fan say anything about 2017 ever again.

Dodgers fans for the last 3 years: "We arent doing anything financially with contracts that any other team cant do. Yall are just mad that we keep winning. Bunch of crybabies. Go Big Blue!"

Dekker_Lentz said:

---

Not to derail, but I never want to hear a Dodger fan say anything about 2017 ever again.

---

*

PhatMack19 said:

---

Ohtani made a bet worth $680 million dollars that the people who run the Dodgers would be safe and good standing when he turns 40. Well, his money is riding on a promise and hope.

---

I am starting to think Ohtani is really bad at betting.

For such a valuable franchise, dodgers sure like to hang around bankruptcy alot.

The other 29 teams watching the Dodgers ownership group implode pic.twitter.com/GwaA4r7mC9

— Mission Valley Mafia (@MissionVlyMafia) August 20, 2026

Wait, I was told that other owners are just cheap and could spend as much as the Dodgers if they really wanted to...

Why aren't any of the main national MLB guys talking about this yet??

It will be interesting to see how MLB and Manfred protect them.

Oh, and **** the LAD.

r I know most of us probably have trouble wrapping out arms around $20 billion.

There are only about 50 Americans with that kind of wealth. It is the market capitalization value of NRG Energy or Dow Chemical. It is 29 times the value of Ohtani's contract.

2024*
2025*

Bro is doing everything but talking about the biggest news story in sports right now

BREAKING: The Seattle Mariners plan to call up left-hander Kade Anderson, the top pitching prospect in baseball, to start Saturday, sources tell ESPN. Anderson, the third pick in the 2025 draft, has a 1.06 ERA over 93.1 innings with 135 strikeouts, 13 walks and 47 hits allowed.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 20, 2026

Fans are angry their teams won't follow the Dodgers in committing fraud to the tune of billions of dollars? Am I reading that tweet right?

Sorry, but all this BS is on the commissioner, who did not exercise ' the best interest of baseball' power that he has. Manfred is crooked, arrogant, and a disgrace. F him.

Yikes, this is pretty wild, the league is happy to look into certain teams stealing signs but they happily turn their head on one of their darlings teams owners doing very shady stuff, to the point federal investigations are on going into how this dude is funding the team possibly through insurance? …. This could be the biggest MLB scandal ever… I hope if he has to sell the Dodgers they have to forfeit all those playoff games. Gonna be a HUGE stain on the MLB