Juan Soto joins New York Mets on £600m ($765m) contract – biggest deal in history of sport

Juan Soto has signed a $765m (£600m) deal with Major League Baseball’s New York Mets – the biggest contract in the history of the sport.

The 15-year deal was confirmed on Wednesday after the 26-year-old Dominican completed a medical.

“This is a seminal moment in franchise history,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in a statement.

“Juan Soto is a generational talent. He is not only bringing staggering historical statistics with him but also a championship pedigree.”

Soto was set to be MLB’s most sought-after free agent this off-season having just had the best season of his career with the New York Yankees, with only three players hitting more home runs.

Soto’s contract includes a $75m (£58.7m) signing bonus and it eclipses the $700m (£558m) 10-year contract that Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, with the Japanese star agreeing to defer $680m (£541m) of the amount.

Deferred-money deals are when players agree to be paid some of their cash after the time the contract covers, and are used frequently in American sports., external

Soto’s new deal is understood to be the largest in professional sports in total value.

Some of the other biggest include Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott becoming the highest-paid player in NFL history in September by agreeing a four-year contract extension worth $240m (£183m).

In 2020, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes signed a 10-year contract extension worth $450m (£352m), which has the highest overall value in the NFL. Prescott has the highest annual salary though.

In the NBA, the Boston Celtics have tied Jayson Tatum down to a new five-year deal worth a reported $314m (£245m).

And in football, Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo has a contract with Al-Nassr until 2025 that is reportedly worth more than 200m euros (£176.5m) per year, while Lionel Messi’s deal at Inter Miami is reportedly worth up to $60m (£47m) a year.