HOUSTON — Major League Baseball owners approved the sale of a controlling stake in the Seattle Mariners from Nintendo of America to a group of minority owners led by Western Wireless Corp. founder John Stanton and retired Microsoft executive Chris Larson.
The sale was announced in April and approved Thursday. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said the deal will close today or Monday.
Stanton will take over as control person from current chairman Howard Lincoln, who is retiring. The Mariners anticipate a seamless transition in management.
“There’s not a soul, other than the people retiring, that will be impacted, because all of these same partners are still involved,” Mariners chairman emeritus John Ellis said.
Nintendo of America, under the direction of Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, bought the Mariners from Jeff Smulyan in 1992. Under Nintendo’s ownership, the Mariners moved from the Kingdome to Safeco Field in 1999.
Nintendo is selling all but 10 percent of its stake in the franchise and the regional sports network ROOT Sports. The transition shifts the percentage of ownership shares within First Avenue Entertainment LLLP, which owns the franchise and a majority interest in ROOT Sports, holdings the team said in April were valued at $1.4 billion.
Stanton said in April the ownership group includes 17 investors and there will be no majority owner among the group.
