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INTEREST: Nintendo of America Plans Sale of Seattle Mariners Baseball Team




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matthewlow



Joined: 04 Feb 2004
Posts: 147
Location: San Ramon, California
PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 7:15 pm Reply with quote
Ichiro is long gone, but the Mariners currently have Hisashi Iwakuma and Norichika Aoki on their team right now. The Mariners always seem to be assumed to be in on Japanese players due to their Japan connections. They've had guys like Sasaki, Johjima, Kawasaki, and Hasegawa.

With the sale, CEO Howard Lincoln goes too. For many die hard Mariners fans, they think this is the last straw that can break the Mariners free. We can only hope...

That said, I'm glad Nintendo is retaining 10% stake. Having connections to Japan can only help IMO.

Goms.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 8:16 pm Reply with quote
Has Nintendo been holding the Mariners back? What's this about the Mariners being free?
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DRosencraft



Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 672
PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 9:34 pm Reply with quote
I don't know what that "free" comment is about, but from everything I've heard about the team, its biggest challenge has been attracting players to a under-performing team in a not so great for TV revenue market, in a difficult division. Ownership has in the past been a little tightfisted in terms of paying for talent, but it's hard to say that given the big dollars they've spent recently on players like Cano, Hernandez, Iwakuma, and others.

I have to admit though, I hadn't even remembered that Nintendo was part owners of the Mariners. Given the financial issues the company has continually faced over the last few years, I imagine their selling of a part of their stake in the team has more to do with that, than with any issues on the baseball side of things.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14889
PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 10:19 pm Reply with quote
DRosencraft wrote:

I don't know what that "free" comment is about, but from everything I've heard about the team, its biggest challenge has been attracting players to a under-performing team in a not so great for TV revenue market, in a difficult division.


And the longest total mileage travel for any team.


DRosencraft wrote:

Given the financial issues the company has continually faced over the last few years, I imagine their selling of a part of their stake in the team has more to do with that, than with any issues on the baseball side of things.


Likely: Nintendo announces new console for 2017 as profits dive
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AnimeLordLuis



Joined: 27 Jan 2015
Posts: 1626
Location: The Borderlands of Pandora
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 12:37 am Reply with quote
I never knew that Nintendo owned a MLB team let alone that it was purchased by the late Hiroshi Yamauchi himself RIP. Shocked
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SaitoHajime101



Joined: 31 Mar 2013
Posts: 285
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 6:19 am Reply with quote
As a long time Mariners fan myself, this is very interesting news though once the deal is finalized, it won't change anything apparent. I'm sure majority of the day to day has been shuffled around already and the Mariners' organization, starting with the GM, really run the baseball side of things.
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Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 9:21 am Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:
DRosencraft wrote:

Given the financial issues the company has continually faced over the last few years, I imagine their selling of a part of their stake in the team has more to do with that, than with any issues on the baseball side of things.


Likely: Nintendo announces new console for 2017 as profits dive


According to KIRO 7's report on the 11pm news last night, this has actually been something Nintendo's been working on for a while. The old CEO was at one point the head of NoA, and he was wanting to step down and retire, and this was part of it.
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Wandering Samurai



Joined: 30 Mar 2014
Posts: 875
Location: USA
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 10:13 am Reply with quote
Always good to retain at least some ownership in the business if it brings in some money. I would imagine as mentioned above this has more to do with bringing in some cash, considering they are aiming for releasing the Nintendo NX next March.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4637
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 10:31 am Reply with quote
AnimeLordLuis wrote:
I never knew that Nintendo owned a MLB team let alone that it was purchased by the late Hiroshi Yamauchi himself RIP. Shocked


I had no idea, either. I was a little surprised to see the Mariners' logo on ANN.
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Somewhere



Joined: 27 Sep 2013
Posts: 361
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 12:55 pm Reply with quote
He purchased the Mariners back in 1992 to keep them from relocating. It was a 'thank you' to the city in return for welcoming Nintendo's business back in the early-mid 80's (Japan was the economic bogeyman at the time like how China is now; think of the dominant culture in Blade Runner's vision of the future, for example).
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 10:34 pm Reply with quote
Greed1914 wrote:
AnimeLordLuis wrote:
I never knew that Nintendo owned a MLB team let alone that it was purchased by the late Hiroshi Yamauchi himself RIP. Shocked


I had no idea, either. I was a little surprised to see the Mariners' logo on ANN.


They keep it really low-profile and don't talk about it much. I forgot about it myself until I watched a Mariners home game a few months ago and saw the walls full of Splatoon logos, which I thought was weird and out of place until I remembered that Nintendo owns the Mariners.
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 11:36 pm Reply with quote
While it's sad that Nintendo of America will eventually no longer have the major stake of the Seattle Mariners, some say it's a good thing considered that they haven't fared so well under Howard Lincoln's tenure.
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