The Billion-Dollar Playbook: Pro Sports Owners Go All-In on Midterm Elections
In the high-stakes game of politics, pro sports owners are throwing caution to the wind and betting big on the midterm elections. According to an FOS analysis of Federal Election Commission data, these moguls have sunk over $100 million into the outcome, with a whopping 80% of that cash going to Republicans.
At the top of the heap is Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson, who has single-handedly dropped a staggering $67 million to help the GOP hold onto Congress. This isn't Adelson's first rodeo, folks – she's a seasoned player in the game of political influence, having spent over $100 million backing Donald Trump's 2024 re-election bid. Trump himself even joked that Adelson offered him a quarter-billion dollars to run for a third term.
But Adelson's not the only sports bigwig putting their money where their mouth is. A dozen or so other principal owners have chipped in a combined $30 million or more to the GOP cause, including Rob Walton (Broncos), Charles B. Johnson (San Francisco Giants), Dick DeVos (Magic), Tony Ressler (Hawks), Jimmy and Dee Haslam (Bucks, Browns, Crew), Jerry Jones Sr. (Cowboys), and Philip Anschutz (Galaxy, Los Angeles Kings).
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party's getting some love from Laura Ricketts, whose family owns the Cubs and NWSL's Stars. Ricketts has ponied up $250,000 to the Democrats' Illinois Future PAC, as well as contributions to several other Democratic candidates. Falcons owner Arthur Blank is also feeling the love, having given $300,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, $3,500 to New York rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and $3,500 to Republican and former NFL kicker Jay Feely.
Now, it's worth noting that these numbers don't account for state-level races or that pesky "dark money" that can be so hard to track. And hey, Knicks owner James Dolan has been known to drop a few bucks on his favorite candidate, Bruce Blakeman, the Republican running for governor of New York. Similarly, many Ohio pro sports owners have been backing Vivek Ramaswamy, the embattled Republican trying to become the state's next governor.
Of course, it's not just the owners themselves who are getting in on the action. Several sports figures who aren't the primary owners of teams have been throwing their hats into the ring, including Jay Feely, Michele Tafoya, and Mark Teixeira – all Republicans, all looking to score a seat in Congress.
As the old saying goes, "you can't put a price on winning." But in this case, it looks like these sports bigwigs are more than happy to put their money where their mouth is.
Written by: Swing Smilemore | The Citizen Edition
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