>In 1992, Nintendo—spurred on by then-president Hiroshi Yamauchi—went out and bought a majority stake in the Seattle Mariners baseball team. It was one of the most 90s things Nintendo ever did, but today, that era comes to an end.
>The Mariners announced today that Nintendo are looking to sell most of their 55% stake in the team to other members of the current ownership group.
>It brings to an end one of the weirdest acts of team ownership in pro sports. Yamauchi never went to a baseball game in his life. Not before buying the Mariners, not during his ownership, not even when the Seattle team played friendlies in Tokyo, where Yamauchi lived. When he died in 2013 there was speculation that Nintendo’s stake in the team would be up for grabs, but at the time the company decided to keep hold of the Mariners.
>That time is now up, with the move expected to be completed in August. In addition to the sale Howard Lincoln—former Chairman of Nintendo of America—will be stepping down from his role as CEO of the Mariners, but will remain on the board to oversee the 10% stake in the team that Nintendo will keep hold of.
Why the fuck would a video game company buy a sports team? Shouldn't they be focusing on, you know, making FUCKING VIDEO GAMES?
>>335736651
Yamauchi was a crazy old man who literally did whatever the fuck he wanted.
And somehow, it worked and the guy made Nintendo good.
>>335736962
well what the fuck happened since he died?
>>335737002Iwata
>>335737002
"Wii would like to play"
>>335736962
>it worked and the guy made Nintendo good.
Yeah, he made it a video game company.
Everything else, he ruined.
>>335737002
>>335736651
Nintendo hadn't been a videogame's company for very long at that point. They had been doing a wide variety of different ventures for over a century.
I want a baseball team.
>>335736651
> They bought it for a 100 thousand dollars
> It's now worth over a billion
I good investment and they needed some flex money for their transition. I still think they should have kept it, these things only become more valuable as time goes on.
>>335736651
>>335736962
Yamauchi wanted to convince the local government and residents he was investing in the area beyond just jobs at NOA because there was a nationwide fear during the 80's that Japanese companies were just going to set up in the US and staff them with the US best talent to lock out US companies even though Regan was supportive of Japanese companies making more jobs in the US.
It was a social move to get Nintendo more goodwill and invest in the area along with a prestige move of owning a sports team.
>>335738796
Fuck, over a fucking billion?
That's an amazing investment they made.
>>335739393
Now thats smart business
>>335736651
When Nintendo bought the Mariners it was pretty controversial at the time because they were the first foreign owners of a MLB team, though it turned out to be a positive thing for the sport as a whole and played a part in allowing players from various asian leagues to move up to the MLB.
I CHI RO
>>335737172
He was still around then. He didn't die until after the Wii U was released.
>>335739393
>>335740140
and of course, you cant fault a nation that whose love for baseball is as great as our own.
They're really hurting financially. Selling off all unnecessary assets like this just to stay afloat, it must be really bad
>>335738796
there's no way in fuck a majority share in a major league baseball team was only 100 thousand
I'd believe 100 million
>>335741094
The Mariners were a new team at the time and they were really shitty, and back then there wasn't billions and billions of dollars floating around. It was just a game.
>>335736651
>Why the fuck would a business acquire money? Shouldn't they be more focused on, you know, ACQUIRING MONEY
>>335740978
>Nintendo
>hurting financially
That's a funny joke, anon.
Even if you disagree with Iwata's decisions as President, you have to admit, he was a saavy businessman. Even with the Wii U being a relative flop compared to its competitors, they still made a hearty profit from it.
>>335741094
It was '92.
Things were way cheaper.
>>335736962
He gave Iwata his spot on the company because Iwata beat him while playing go.
Yamauchi loved go.
>>335741094
Yeah man, the Mariners had been destroyed in every season since they came into existence in '77. Their owner and shareholders were desperate to offload them.
>>335741212
http://www.forbes.com/teams/seattle-mariners/
>Price Paid: $100 M
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/24/news/24iht-nlba.html
>Japanese business moved again to save another overstretched American enterprise when a consortium of Seattle businessmen led by the video-game maker Nintendo bid $100 million on Thursday to buy the Seattle Mariners, a major league baseball team.
I don't give a fuck how shitty they are. In 1992, MLB was a billion dollar franchise and you don't just buy team with fucking chicken scratch. 100k is FUCKING NOTHING. It costs millions of dollars just to run a fucking stadium for a single event.
please tell me what KIND of idiot are you?
>>335740715
man the wii u killed everybody
>>335740978
Nintendo has enough liquid assets stored up to run at full capacity for about 50 years without making any profit.
>>335736651
In the 80's and 90's there was a fear by many in the US that Japanese companies would out compete native ones and steal all our monies. Buying the team for Nintendo of America was a sign of good faith from Nintendo, that the company was rooted and devoted to its American office Washington.
>>335741336
And then the late 90's-early 00's happened and they went back to getting destroyed every season.
I miss Mariners baseball.
>My, oh my!
>>335741310
They didn't profit from the Wii U at all, you must be thinking of the 3DS.
Nintendo has a lot of financial reserves but they are losing money.
>>335741310
>they still made a hearty profit from it.
This is such an overstatement. The Wii U has done nothing but cost Nintendo money as a venture, without even factoring in the long term brand damage it's done. When they say in investor meetings that *the Wii U* is profitable it means they're selling the hardware units at a profit, and when they talk about software making profit they're talking about specific investments to make games and turn around to sell specific games. The Wii U, as a whole, also has research and development and marketing costs attached to it, the combined effect which put Nintendo in the red for 3 solid years. Thanks to the Wii U they lost over 2 billion dollars from 2012 to 2014, which they only barely managed to turn around in 2015 thanks to amiibos and DLC up the ass.
If Nintendo could erase all incident and memory of the Wii U they would literally jump at the opportunity. This would not be the case if the venture had been *profitable*. It was not.
>>335741734
Stop fucking saying this you moronic you get proven wrong every thread stop perpetuating some lunatics garbage
>>335741734
their assets are mostly in private ownings of their own stock, meaning their value is mostly determined by their value as company. do you really think they could operate a business for 50 years without making a dime and continue to be publically valued as highly?
also you seem to have no idea how business works. a company that has operating income cancelling out their expenditures can operate indefinitely like this without going bankrupt. their liquid assets in this case would be completely irrelevant
>>335741734
What do you consider "running at full capacity", paying the gas and electric bills?
R&D for games and consoles costs a shitload of time and money, and it only costs more as time goes on.
There is literally not a single business that can afford to sit on their ass and do absolutely nothing. Especially not a video game company, and ESPECIALLY not for 50 years.
Where the fuck does this meme come from?
>>335741734
Are drones the stupidest people alive?
>>335736651
RIP, at least it made a good Splatoon billboard before they cut it off. Also holy shit, the ownership is such a relic Howard Lincoln still has a stake in it.
>>335736962
Yamauchi also made the PlayStation, which changed gaming forever.
>>335736651
Jesus, if they're selling that, that must mean they're in dire straits? Is this finally it? Is Nintendo finally dying, as the prophecies foretold?
>>335736651
faggot game historian here
Yamauchi wanted to "give something back" to America. It wasn't really a business/investment move.
At that time, American/Japanese relations were a bit more tense than they are today - especially in such an American pasttime as baseball. A lot of people were really upset that a Japanese company was allowed to buy an American baseball team.
>>335741331
Given the fables of his programming exploits, Iwata better have beat him at Go.
>>335742075
Technically, Nintendo has had losses for the past few years because of a number of factors unrelated to the Wii U altogether.
The NX's R&D phase has been in full swing, they made some big tech acquisitions, and they bought new buildings for their headquarters. Those are all huge money-sinks.
The Wii U has been profitable. It hasn't been anywhere near profitable ENOUGH to cover their expenses during its lifetime, no, but they've earned back what the Wii U itself cost them.
>tfw you have enough dosh to invest in a sports team
>>335742482
>There is literally not a single business that can afford to sit on their ass and do absolutely nothing.
Wayne Enterprise can.
>>335744841
>tfw you're running out of money and have to sell your sports team
>>335736651
SINKING
H
I
P
"lol, nintendo has billions to burn"
>>335744857
>tfw you will never be CEO of a company that inexplicably makes a shitload of money
>>335736651
Because old established sports where people go entirely because "muh tradition" print fucking money.
>That feel when Nintendo will go third party / mobile game / making pachinko games only in your lifetime
>>335746596
>a Nintendo slot/ pachinko machine
It's sad how feasible that would be
>tfw Mariners fan
i've been dreaming about this day for years
>>335746790
They surely have some already. They might go all out just like Konami,.
>>335746790
>>335746596
>underage children who don't know the joy of betting max credits while drinking whiskey and coke to the tune of bleeps and bloops
Back to your kiddy console, kids.
>>335736651
>tfw I wanted to live in Seattle because of the all the rain they get
Sunny days make me feel terrible for spending it inside.
>>335736651
Japan loves Baseball and kooky old Yamauchi wanted to own an American baseball team. When Ken Griffy Jr. was the star player they made a lot of money off of the Ken Griffy Jr. Baseball games, but then he got traded and that was pretty much the beginning of the end of Nintendo's first party sports games because they didn't have a big name to put on the label anymore.
I've never really been into sports but me and my friends had some good times with the Ken Griffy Jr. baseball games for the SNES.
>>335746969
I'm well aware of that vice, which is why Im hoping to see it on a nintendo console before a casino
>use the gamepad or future equivalent to roll slots while lounged and investing Nintendo credits
I can already see this shit on its way
>the mariners have struggled to stay above .500 for the past 10 years
>nintendo has struggled to control the console market for the past 10 years
match made in heaven
So when is Nintendo going to start using Gacha in their games?
