Nearly a quarter century after buying part of the Mariners, a group of local minority owners led by wireless industry pioneer John Stanton purchased majority control of the baseball team.
Pending approval by Major League Baseball, the group will own 90 percent of a franchise valued at $1.4 billion. Nintendo of America, which owned a majority of the team, will keep 10 percent but is relinquishing control to Stanton and 16 other limited partners who bought into the Mariners in 1992.
Stanton, 60, could bring the long-awaited local presence and accountability many frustrated fans have clamored for from a struggling team with baseball’s longest playoff drought.