This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Houston • Major League Baseball owners were set to vote Thursday on the proposed sale of a controlling stake in the Seattle Mariners from Nintendo of America to a group of minority owners led by John Stanton.
As part of the sale, Stanton will take over as control person from current chairman Howard Lincoln, who is retiring. The agreement was announced in April and approval is expected. The sale could close this week.
Nintendo, which took control of the team from Jeff Smulyan in 1992, 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 then the minority ownership group includes 17 investors, and there will be no majority owner among the group.