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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.