The result is minority owner John Stanton will replace Howard Lincoln as the club’s chairman, chief operating officer and designated control person to Major League Baseball.
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Nintendo is selling most of its ownership of the Seattle Mariners to a group of minority owners, the team announced Wednesday.
Lincoln, 76, has been with the Mariners since 2000, at the height of the successful playoff team in 2000 and 2001.
If so, the value of the shares to be transferred to the other 16 members of the ownership group, known as First Avenue Entertainment LLLP, projects at $630 million.
Lincoln, instrumental in the sale to Nintendo that helped keep the Mariners in Seattle, said the intention always had been to eventually return to a local ownership majority. Closing the transaction is subject to the finalization of legal contracts and approval from Major League Baseball which is expected in August of this year.
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“I hope they understand that I played a big part in saving the Mariners for Seattle”, he said. “On the other hand, I’m equally disappointed that we have not been able to host a World Series game for our fans”.
Stanton, who ran a number of leading wireless companies, including the one that eventually became T-Mobile. Stanton and the other minority owners were approached by Lincoln in February about the idea of purchasing majority interest in the franchise and returned with an answer to pursue the transaction in late in March.
In a statement, Lincoln said: “From the first day of our involvement almost 24 years ago, Nintendo has had two goals for its investment in the Mariners”.
What is still left to be answered is how this departure of Lincoln will impact the team and what moves could come next.
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Stanton is a Seattle native who made his fortune as a pioneer in the wireless industry. “We don’t really get involved in that stuff upstairs, certainly the players don’t”.
