Major TV network Starz is lining up a blockbuster series on the gambling scandal surrounding MLB star Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter.
Ohtani, widely regarded as one of the best baseball players in history, found himself embroiled in controversy through no fault of his own last year.
One of America’s biggest television enterprises wants to turn the scandal into a hit series and Starz, famous for shows like ‘Outlander’ and ‘Power,’ may have found their next big thing.
The production was previously in the works at Lionsgate Television but is set to fall into the lap of Starz. The two companies were part of one larger firm before a split occurred in May.
Shohei Ohtani Interpreter Gambling Scandal Explained
Ohtani made his first step into the world of professional baseball back in 2013 when signing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, and there he was introduced to Ippei Mizuhara.
Mizuhara was hired by the team to translate for English-speaking players and when Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Angels in 2018, the Angels hired him to serve as their star player’s personal interpreter.
Mizuhara was a popular face at Ohtani’s press conferences but his world came crashing down in March 2024 when it was announced he was fired by the Dodgers.
Media reports had began to circulate surrounding his gambling activities, which prompted investigations into Ohtani’s finances.
News broke that at least $4.5 million in wire transfers had been sent from Ohtati’s bank account to a South Carolina sports betting operator, leading to an explosive chain reaction.
Mizuhara was in debt to bookmaker Matthew Bowyer and claimed Ohtani had transferred the funds himself to the bookmaker to cover Mizuhara, who he didn’t trust not to gamble the money away – but he changed his story a day later and said Ohtani was unaware of the payments.
Prosecutors were adamant that Ohtani was not using sports betting apps to wager himself and instead the MLB superstar was never anything more than a victim.
Mizuhara began gambling with unlicensed sportsbooks back in 2021 and lost incredible sums of money, a reported $40 million across 19,000 individual bets. To cover his debts, he impersonated Ohtani over the phone on at least two dozen occasions to deceive bank employees into authorising wire transactions from Ohtani’s account.
Mizuhara stole nearly $17 million from a bank account of Ohtani’s that he had helped the player open in Phoenix in 2018.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
