Five months after it was first proposed, the sale of the Seattle Mariners to a Japanese-led group was approved today by a 25-1 vote.
The American and National leagues, who had approved the $125 millon deal in principle during separate meetings Wednesday, took the formal vote today during a joint session that concluded a contentious three-day summer meeting.The group buying the club is headed by Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Kyoto. Yamauchi says he has no interest in baseball but is buying the team as a gift to Seattle. Nintendo of America Inc. is located in suburban Redmond, Wash.
Baseball owners had opposed non-North American investment, but are allowing the sale to go through because Yamauchi agreed to limit his power to decisions involving the team's sale or relocation, and the dissolution of the partnership purchasing the team. Yamauchi is contributing approximately $75 million to the deal.
"The offshore interest has investment but not much to say about how the franchise is operated," Brown said Wednesday.
John Ellis, the chairman of Puget Sound Power & Light Co., will become the team's chief executive officer. Brown acknowledged that Ellis could have discussions with Yamauchi about the team's operations, but said that Ellis had the power to make final decisions.
"You know and I know that in any organization there are discussions in the way decisions are reached, and we can't control how that's done," Brown said.
Jeff Smulyan, who heads the group that puchased the team from George Argyros in September 1989 for approximately $77 million, said his group will break even on its investment. Although Yamauchi's group is paying Smulyan approximately $106 million - the remainder will be used to operate the club - Smulyan said the Mariners operated at a loss during his tenure.
"We don't make any money significantly, but we do OK," Smulyan said.
Under Smulyan, the Mariners topped 2 million in attendance for the first time, but still did not take in enough revenue to satisfy Smulyan's bankers.
"Someone asked, `What would we do differently,"' Smulyan said. "I said, `Take more partners.'
"We've learned a lot about running a club," he added. "I'm very proud of the people we assembled and the things we did."
Control of the team will pass from Smulyan to Ellis in approximately 30 days, after the final documents are drafted and approved by the ownership committee. That panel voted 7-0 Tuesday to recommend approval of the sale.
Commissioner Fay Vincent, who did not attend Wednesday's news conference, said during an informal session with reporters that he was pleased with the outcome of the deal, especially the inclusion of local businesses in the partnership that is purchasing the team.