Shohei Ohtani Joins Grand Seiko As A Global Ambassador

Grand Seiko announced today that Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani will join the brand as a global ambassador starting April 1. The announcement arrives as Ohtani—who is at the height of his career and widely considered the best baseball player in the world—leads the Japan national baseball team in the World Baseball Classic, and ahead of the upcoming Major League Baseball season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Since making his MLB debut in 2018, Ohtani has become one of baseball’s most recognizable and exciting stars thanks to his rare two-way dominance as both pitcher and hitter. Ohtani’s ability to do things no one else in modern baseball can do reached a new level last fall. During the Dodgers’ World Series run, he both started on the mound and batted first in the lineup—a feat that is essentially unheard of in the modern era of baseball.

While pitchers regularly hit a century ago, most famously when Babe Ruth did it in the 1910s, the specialization of today’s game has made that kind of two-way playing, much less dominance, nearly impossible. For Ohtani, it was just another reminder that he’s playing a different sport than everyone else right now, and doing it at the highest level possible. He’s won four of the last five MVP awards (last year in a unanimous decision) and helped lead the Dodgers to two World Series titles in a row.

Ohtani’s partnership with Grand Seiko is a significant move for the brand, intended to strengthen its global brand position. The partnership is notable for many reasons, but perhaps most notably because Grand Seiko has rarely relied on celebrity ambassadors in the past. When the brand has previously worked with ambassadors, they have often been regional figures in culture or the arts, not global sporting stars.

“To carry forward a part of Grand Seiko’s heritage, shaped through decades of dedication, is something I deeply value,” Ohtani said in a statement. “Feeling that legacy as I wear the watch brings me real joy, and it is my hope that we will continue this journey together.”

Grand Seiko joins a strong list of brands Ohtani is already partnering with—New Balance, Oakley, Porsche, Hugo Boss, Japan Airlines, Konami Gaming, and more. He reportedly earns an estimated $100M annually from these sponsorships. One would think many watch brands would have been courting him, which makes the choice of Grand Seiko particularly meaningful, but perhaps the signs were there, as when he signed his deal with the Dodgers in late 2023, he was wearing a Grand Seiko.

Exactly how this partnership will unfold remains to be seen. Will Ohtani begin appearing in Grand Seiko’s global campaigns, wearing the watches in press appearances, or even collaborating on a signature model down the line? The details are still to come, but the pairing of one of Japan’s biggest sports stars with one of Japan’s most respected watchmakers already feels like a natural partnership.