The heads of Japan's 12 professional baseball clubs on Thursday approved a move that will make Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. the top shareholder of the Yokohama BayStars Baseball Club Inc.
The approval means Nippon Broadcasting will be the first broadcaster to manage a professional baseball club in Japan and will make company chairman Michiyasu Kawauchi the new owner of the Central League club.
Nippon Broadcasting, which already holds the broadcast rights for BayStars' games, is the No. 2 owner holding 30.4 percent of the team's stock.