Sports Owners Have Poured More Than $100 Million Into the Midterms, Led by Mavericks Owner Miriam Adelson

As voters head to the polls for Tuesday's midterm elections, team owners across the biggest U.S. sports leagues have already given at least $100 million to federal candidates and political committees, most of it to Republicans, according to a Front Office Sports analysis of Federal Election Commission data.

FOS reviewed contributions from the start of 2025 to candidates, PACs and party committees. Its count does not include state races or untraceable "dark money." 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 and soccer owners in more detail earlier Tuesday.

Adelson stands alone

No one in sports comes close to Miriam Adelson, the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks. FOS reports she has spent at least $67 million to help Republicans keep control of Congress, roughly two-thirds of the sports-wide total.

FEC records back that up. In March 2026, Adelson gave $30 million to SLF PAC, the main super PAC backing Senate Republicans, and $10 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, its House counterpart. In May she gave $25 million to MAGA Inc., the super PAC aligned with President Donald Trump. She also gave $1 million to Security Is Strength PAC in September 2025, $764,100 to the NRSC Victory fund and smaller amounts to the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Together those gifts total about $67.6 million in the records Undrafted reviewed.

Adelson, a physician who inherited much of the Las Vegas Sands casino fortune after her husband Sheldon died in 2021, spent more than $100 million helping Trump return to the White House in 2024, according to FOS.

The million-dollar club

Broncos co-owner Rob Walton is second, with more than $11 million to Republicans, per FOS's corrected NFL figures. FEC records show $7 million of that went to Americans for Prosperity Action.

San Francisco Giants owner Charles B. Johnson leads MLB with just over $2.6 million, all to Republicans, FOS reports. FEC records show $1 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund across two gifts, $525,000 to SLF PAC and $500,000 to Grow the Majority, a joint fundraising committee that passes money to the NRCC.

FOS lists two NBA owners among those giving at least $1 million to Republicans, and FEC records show both cleared that mark comfortably. Atlanta Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler gave $2 million to Americans for Prosperity Action in March, plus $250,000 to the NRCC and $100,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Dick DeVos, whose family owns the Orlando Magic, gave $500,000 to SLF PAC, $500,000 across two gifts to the Congressional Leadership Fund and $500,000 to the AFC Victory Fund, a super PAC tied to the school-choice group American Federation for Children. Other members of the DeVos family gave separately.

The rest of that group, per FOS, includes Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who gave $1 million to MAGA Inc. in January 2025 according to FEC records; Jimmy and Dee Haslam, who own the Cleveland Browns and Columbus Crew and hold a stake in the Milwaukee Bucks; and Philip Anschutz, owner of the Los Angeles Kings and LA Galaxy, whose largest gifts were $509,100 to the Johnson Leadership Fund backing House Speaker Mike Johnson, FEC records show.

On the Democratic side

The biggest Democratic donor among principal owners is Vinod Khosla, the venture capitalist whose family bought the Seattle Seahawks this year. FEC records show $2 million from Khosla to Senate Majority PAC, the main super PAC backing Senate Democrats.

Falcons and Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank gave $300,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in November 2025, according to FEC records, and FOS notes he also gave $3,500 each to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and to Republican House candidate Jay Feely in Arizona. Laura Ricketts, a Chicago Cubs co-owner whose family also owns the NWSL's Chicago Stars, gave $250,000 to Illinois Future PAC, a Democratic super PAC, FEC records show. FOS reports Washington Capitals and Mystics owner Ted Leonsis has given about $122,000, mostly to Democrats.

Big money beyond the owner's box

Some of the largest political spenders in sports are not principal owners. Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and an investor in the Baltimore Orioles' ownership group, has spent at least $80 million, mostly to help Democrats win the House, according to New York Times figures cited by FOS. Undrafted found about $24 million in Bloomberg contributions in FEC records processed so far, including $11 million to Stand For New York PAC and $6.4 million to 314 Action Fund. Late-season filings take weeks to appear in FEC data, and the Times figure has not yet been matched there.

Citadel founder Ken Griffin, a major U.S. Soccer donor, has given more than $32 million to Republicans, as Undrafted reported earlier. Dodgers minority owner Todd Boehly gave $1 million to MAGA Inc., FEC records show. Natural gas executive Cody Campbell, who backs the Saving College Sports advocacy group, gave $500,000 to MAGA Inc. and more than $2 million in total to Republicans, according to FEC records. FOS also reports investor Bill Ackman gave $1 million to Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign for Ohio governor.

League by league

FOS broke the giving down by league. NFL owners have spent more than $20 million, nearly all to Republicans. MLS owners gave more than $4.5 million and MLB principal owners just over $4 million, with baseball's six largest donors giving only to Republicans. NHL owners gave more than $2.8 million, led by Anschutz. WNBA owners gave more than $540,000, or close to $1 million counting owners of incoming teams, led by Houston's Tilman Fertitta, whose $200,000 to the RNC appears in FEC records.

Some owners also put money into state races that federal data does not capture. FOS reports Knicks owner James Dolan donated heavily to Republican Bruce Blakeman's campaign for New York governor, and that many Ohio team owners have backed Ramaswamy.

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 and The New York Times. More sports business coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab), licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).