The Angels' poor business sense left a pile of Shohei Ohtani money on the table

The Angels are continually failing to cash in on a potential windfall

Detroit Tigers v Los Angeles Angels
Detroit Tigers v Los Angeles Angels | John McCoy/GettyImages

Walk into any mall, anywhere in the world, and there are likely half a dozen stores where you can purchase a Dodgers, Yankees or Red Sox cap. Perhaps this isn’t surprising -- those logos have become brands unto themselves, and there are plenty of people outside the United States who probably do not even know they represent sports teams, rather than cities. However, you would also have no trouble repping the White Sox or A’s, thanks in large part to their adoption by hip hop culture. Across other sports, the Raiders, Lakers, Bulls, and even LA Kings are omnipresent... but the Angels? Finding hands-on merchandise is virtually impossible. Sure, you can order online, but shipping costs are prohibitive, and it can be a long process.

The irony is the Angels are hardly an unknown team internationally. Until recently, they literally employed the only baseball player that many folks who have never watched a game can name. Shohei Ohtani is in the pantheon of sportspeople whose dominance transcends the game, alongside Micheal Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Lionel Messi. Yet in many significant markets (Japan excepted), for the whole time that Ohtani wore a Halo, it was a struggle for his international fans to wear his jersey.

There’s another ace up the Angels’ sleeve, however, sitting just across the freeway. For millions of overseas visitors, two must-dos on any trip to the USA are Disneyland and the experience of a Big Four sport. Anaheim is unique in that they have both within walking distance. Despite a decade of losing seasons, attendance figures at Angel Stadium are still consistently in the top half of the league. You have to imagine that at least a fraction of those seats are being filled by people who have recently bought Mickey Mouse ears.

Whatever your opinion is of Arte Moreno, one thing that most Angels fans will acknowledge is that he loves money. Which is why it’s bizarre that as baseball increasingly becomes a global sport -- just witness the success of the World Baseball Classic, Travis Bazzana’s draft position, or the Roki Sasaki feeding frenzy -- the Angels are continually failing to cash in on a potential windfall. With a little more of a push, there’s a whole international market out there that, for the Angels, remains untapped. Who knows, maybe they could spend some of that merchandise money on a bona fide ace?

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