Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani/Decoy Bobbleheads Are Going, Going ...

Sam Garcia | Aug 28, 2024

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers are hosting their second Shohei Ohtani bobblehead night of the season Wednesday. Depicting Ohtani holding his beloved dog, Decoy, the bobblehead began to attract an enormous crowd Wednesday afternoon. The figurine is certain to generate high resale prices in the days to come. 

Fans are already lined up outside of Dodger Stadium before 12 pm waiting for the new Shohei Ohtani bobblehead giveaway.

The Dodgers don't play until 7:10 pm.

No fanbase is more loyal.

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— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) August 28, 2024

Ohtani’s last bobblehead night on May 16 brought in a record-breaking crowd of 53,527. Spectators lined up hours before the first pitch to secure a bobblehead. However, the Dodgers only distributed bobbleheads to the first 40,000 fans, forcing many fans to leave the stadium empty-handed. 

The Dodgers’ distribution of promotional items has received criticism from a handful of executives in the sports industry.

“Why do that,” Andy Dolich, a former top executive for the Oakland Athletics, San Francisco 49ers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Washington Capitals, rhetorically asked to the Los Angeles Times, “when the promotional concept is to put a smile on someone’s face?”

Some of those who were able to acquire a bobblehead ran straight to resale websites to sell the memorabilia for hefty sums, fetching prices up to $2,300 for the limited-quantity gray road uniform version. 

For Ohtani’s second bobblehead night, the Dodgers announced a gold version of the bobblehead will be available to a small number of spectators on Wednesday. The possibility of obtaining a rare gold Ohtani bobblehead seems to be eliciting the same amount of chaos that Ohtani’s first bobblehead night did. 

This can be frustrating to genuine Dodger fans who were excited to get a “free” bobblehead but were told the stadium had run out before they arrived. Many fans are unable to arrive at the stadium early for legitimate reasons — especially families who are bringing their children to the game. 

“You absolutely cannot alienate that last person,” Dolich said, “the family that comes from Encino just for that night, with 8-year-old twins, and it’s, ‘Sorry, we’re done.’ ”

Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall pointed out how promotional items have become so difficult to acquire. 

“It’s really just a budget issue,” Hall said to the Los Angeles Times. “That’s all it is. Teams have so many more promotions than they used to.”

The Dodgers have incorporated more promotional nights than in the past. This season, the franchise’s promotional schedule includes 27 different stadium-wide giveaways, 10 drone shows, and a handful of fan festivals and themed nights. 

The additional promotional nights attract more spectators to Dodger Stadium, so the franchise needs to adjust the amount of promotional items they can give away to ensure their devout fans are not leaving disappointed.