Nintendo 'has no plans' to sell Seattle Mariners stake

Nintendo of America will hold onto its majority stake in the Seattle Mariners baseball team, even after the death of its former president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was considered the Mariners' titular owner.

According to Biz Journals, Yamauchi, who recently died at the age of 85, was credited with saving baseball in Seattle when he became the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners in 1992, just as then-owner Jess Smulyan was about to sell the team.

In 2004, Yamauchi transferred his team ownership to Nintendo of America to ensure stability for the baseball team's future.

The Seattle Mariners' chairman and CEO and member of the Nintendo of America board of directors, Howard Lincoln, said that there's always speculation in times like this, but despite Yamauchi's passing, Nintendo of America remains committed to its majority stake in the team as "has no plans to sell its majority interest in the Mariners."

According to Lincoln, Yamauchi never wavered in his commitment to the Mariners and, as such, that commitment will continue at Nintendo of America.

"He was a visionary," Lincoln told Biz Journal. "We need to think about and never forget all he did for Seattle and for the Northwest."