Dan Snyder’s turbulent tenure as owner of the Washington Commanders could soon be over, although sources told Front Office Sports that a move to oust Snyder doesn’t appear to be imminent. 

It takes 24 of the league’s 32 owners to remove a fellow owner, the same 75% threshold needed to approve the purchase of a franchise. Owners are “counting votes” to see if there’s enough among the 31 other franchises to push Snyder out, USA Today reported over the weekend. 

“They haven’t created a great record yet to oust Snyder,” a source told FOS.

One ownership source told FOS there’s unlikely to be a vote before an ongoing outside investigation into the latest allegations against Snyder and the Commanders, headed by former SEC chair Mary Jo White, is completed. 

From his reluctance to change the team’s original name to the allegations of harassment leveled by several women who worked for the team, Snyder has faced increased scrutiny over the last several months. 

• The House Oversight Committee began an investigation of the Commanders in October, an inquiry that initially centered on hostile workplace claims. 
• Former Commanders cheerleader and marketing manager Tiffani Johnston testified to the committee that Snyder placed his hand on her thigh under a table at a networking event.
• That committee’s investigation expanded to include allegations of financial improprieties. 

Big Purchase Amid Investigations

Regardless of what ultimately happens with Snyder, the Commanders reportedly paid more than $100 million for about 200 acres of land in Woodbridge, Virginia, recently, a possible new stadium site.

Formula 1’s new budget cap is interacting with the world economy in unexpected ways, and some are calling for change.

Oracle Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said that due to inflation, seven teams would have to miss the last four races to stay within the $140 million cap.

• The FIA introduced a $145 million spending cap last year, which reduced to $140 million this year.
• The cap will be $135 million next year.
• Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei has credited the budget cap with leveling the F1 playing field, particularly by containing Mercedes’ spending.

“Freight has quadrupled, and that’s not something we can control,” said Horner.

While Horner’s sentiment was shared by the other leading teams in the 2022 Constructor’s Cup — Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren — other teams dissented.

Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Haas, and Williams all voted against an inflationary adjustment at FIA meetings last month. 

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer suggested that the issue is more that larger teams are unwilling to adjust their budgets, as opposed to small-to-mid-sized teams missing races.

New York, New York?

New York City mayor Eric Adams offered F1 a potential race site on Randalls and Wards Islands, situated between Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.

Maffei downplayed the possibility of a fourth U.S.-based race.

Prior to the announcement that Las Vegas would be added to the 2023 calendar, F1’s director of media rights floated a race in the Big Apple, telling Front Office Sports, “Who wouldn’t want to race in New York?”

Take-Two Interactive has completed its acquisition of mobile game developer Zynga in a deal valued at $12.7 billion. 

The acquisition — first announced in January 2022 — brings together two of the largest video game makers in the U.S. and immediately makes Take-Two a major player in a global mobile gaming market projected to reach $153.5 billion by 2027, per ResearchandMarkets.com. 

Take-Two’s purchase of the San Francisco-based developer will be funded with $2.7 billion in financing from JPMorgan Chase, Take-Two’s balance sheet, and a debt issuance.

• Zynga is the mobile game maker behind “FarmVille” and “Words with Friends.”
• It generated $695 million in revenue in Q4 2021, an 8% increase year-over-year. 
• Its online game division reeled in $534 million in revenue in Q4, up 7% year-over-year.
• Full-year revenue for Zynga reached $2.8 billion in 2021, up 42% compared to FY2020. 

Take-Two’s acquisition follows a strong fiscal Q4 for the company, which owns major video game publishers including Rockstar Games and 2K. The company generated $930 million in revenue during the quarter, surpassing its forecast of between $835 million and $885 million. 

The stronger-than-expected results were driven by its digitally delivered revenue, which reached $833 million in fiscal Q4, up 9% year-over-year. The largest contributor was “NBA 2K22,” which has sold more than 10 million copies since Sept. 9, 2021.

Big Deals

Take-Two’s purchase of Zynga adds to another major acquisition in the gaming industry. In January, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. The all-cash deal is pending regulatory approvals.