Ken Griffin's $32 Million to Republicans Dwarfs MLS Owners' Midterm Spending

As voters head to the polls for Tuesday's midterm elections, MLS team owners have already put more than $4.5 million into federal races, according to a Front Office Sports review of Federal Election Commission filings from Jan. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026.

But soccer's biggest political spender this cycle doesn't own an MLS or NWSL club. Citadel founder Ken Griffin has given more than $32 million, almost entirely to Republican causes, during 2025 and 2026 through the end of July, according to New York Times figures cited by FOS. Undrafted checked the largest contributions against FEC records; figures we could not find there are attributed to Front Office Sports below. Undrafted covered NFL owners' midterm giving earlier Tuesday.

Griffin's soccer ties

Griffin is a longtime U.S. Soccer donor rather than a club owner. In 2024 he helped fund Mauricio Pochettino's contract to coach the U.S. men's national team, Bloomberg reported at the time, a deal FOS puts at $6 million a year. FOS reports Griffin is again backing Pochettino's salary "in significant part" after the coach's return was announced in August, and that he has given millions of dollars to U.S. Soccer to build mini-pitches in Chicago and South Florida.

Where Griffin's money went

FEC records show nine contributions from Griffin of $1.5 million or more in April and May 2026, adding up to $32 million. The largest was $10 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, listed in FEC records as SLF PAC, followed by $5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund. Those are the main super PACs backing Senate and House Republicans. He also gave $3 million to Conservatives for American Excellence.

Griffin gave $2.5 million each to five more super PACs, according to the filings. They include Pine Tree Results PAC, which FEC records tie to Sen. Susan Collins' victory committee in Maine; Last Frontier PAC, tied to Sen. Dan Sullivan's in Alaska; and Fighting for Wyoming. He added $1.5 million to Fight On Iowa, tied to Ashley Hinson's victory committee. FOS reports the groups he funded also include ones backing Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida and Frank Chapman, a Wyoming House candidate who has since withdrawn.

FOS reports Griffin gave more than $100 million to Republicans in the 2024 cycle. A spokesperson for Griffin did not comment to FOS.

The Haslams and Anschutz lead MLS owners

Jimmy and Dee Haslam, who own the Columbus Crew as well as the Cleveland Browns, have given about $2 million combined to Republicans, FOS reports, including nearly $400,000 to groups supporting Ohio Sen. Jon Husted. FEC records show Jimmy Haslam giving to Team Husted and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, along with $50,000 to Pine Tree Results PAC, the Collins-linked group Griffin also funded.

LA Galaxy owner Philip Anschutz has given more than $1.3 million to Republicans, according to FOS. FEC records show two contributions totaling $509,100 to the Johnson Leadership Fund, which supports House Speaker Mike Johnson, plus $159,700 to One Team Senate Majority and $150,000 to NRSC Victory. Representatives for the Haslams and Anschutz did not respond to FOS.

FOS puts Nashville SC owner John Ingram and New England Revolution owner Robert Kraft at around $200,000 each, mostly to Republicans, and FC Cincinnati's Carl Lindner III at about $175,000. FEC records show Ingram's largest gifts were $50,000 each to two Republican fundraising committees, Defend Our Majority and Team Hagerty Victory. San Jose Earthquakes owner John Fisher gave $93,000, mostly to Republicans, per FOS.

On the Democratic side

Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank has given around $315,000, mostly to Democrats, FOS reports. FEC records show $300,000 from Blank to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in November 2025. FOS notes he also gave $3,500 each to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and to Jay Feely, a Republican running for a House seat in Arizona, and $5,000 to the Home Depot PAC. Blank, whose name is on U.S. Soccer's new headquarters, is Griffin's philanthropic counterpart at the federation, as FOS puts it, but his election spending is less than 1% of Griffin's. Representatives for Blank declined to comment to FOS.

In the NWSL, Chicago Stars co-owner Laura Ricketts has also given around $315,000, mostly to Democrats, per FOS. FEC records show $250,000 from Ricketts in January to Illinois Future PAC, a super PAC that FOS says supports Democrat Juliana Stratton. Ricketts' representatives declined to comment to FOS.

Jennifer Pritzker, a minority owner of the Stars, has given more than $3 million almost entirely to Democrats, according to FOS. FEC records show $1.05 million from Pritzker to Illinois Future PAC in August 2025 and about $669,000 to the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund this year. FOS also lists David Blitzer, who holds minority stakes in Real Salt Lake and the Utah Royals, at more than $150,000, mostly to Democrats, while LAFC's Bennett Rosenthal gave $66,000 to Democrats.

Overall, NWSL majority owners have given a little more than $400,000, FOS reports, or more than $2.7 million when owners of the league's 2028 expansion teams are included.

Owners with clubs abroad

Americans who own clubs overseas show up in the filings too. FEC records show Todd Boehly, whom FOS describes as a former Chelsea chairman and a Dodgers minority owner, gave $1 million to MAGA Inc., the super PAC aligned with President Donald Trump, at the end of 2025. FOS reports Manchester United's Edward Glazer has given close to $850,000 to Republicans, while Bournemouth owner Bill Foley and Crystal Palace's Woody Johnson have each given more than $550,000, largely to Republicans.

What's next

Polls close Tuesday night, but the money trail isn't finished. Committees file post-election reports with the FEC in December, which will show any late contributions from owners that were not yet public before Election Day.

Sources: Federal Election Commission records, Front Office Sports, The New York Times and Bloomberg. More MLS coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Paul Elledge via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).