Mavericks Owner’s $100 Million Trump Donation Dwarfs All Other Sports Owner Political Giving

The Dallas Mavericks boast a payroll of about $180 million this year, ranking in the top 10 in the NBA. That’s a drop in the bucket for ultra-wealthy owner Miriam Adelson, who has spent more than half that amount on a single politician this year.

Adelson has put about $100 million behind her Preserve America political action committee backing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and tens of millions more to Republican Senate and House races. As extraordinary as the size of the donation is, Trump was expecting more. He was feuding with Adelson earlier this summer and expected her to spend a quarter-billion dollars on his election campaign, according to the New York Times.

Even among her billionaire peers in U.S. pro sports, Adelson’s political spending and influence stand alone. Her nine-figure donations make her a powerful figure both in the United States and Israel, where her late husband, Sheldon Adelson, was a major player in media and politics.

Sheldon Adelson amassed his wealth in casinos in Las Vegas and Asia, and the family fortune—estimated to be worth more than $30 billion—passed to Miriam when Sheldon died in 2021.

Dr. Adelson, a Nevada physician who specializes in substance addiction, waited until Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican primary to make her nine-figure Trump donation this time around, though her family has backed Trump and Republicans for years. In an editorial in the Israeli newspaper she owns, Dr. Adelson called pro-Palestine protests in the U.S. “ghastly gatherings of radical Muslim and BLM activists, ultra-progressives, and career agitators.” A New York Times story about Adelson’s political activities this summer was headlined “The Pro-Israel Donor With a $100 Million Plan to Elect Trump.”

It’s a stance that puts Adelson at odds with her famous co-owner Mark Cuban and her star player Kyrie Irving. Cuban has been one of Vice President Kamala Harris’s major surrogates on television this fall, while Irving has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and supporter of Palestinians.

Adelson bought the majority of the Mavericks from Cuban in a shock sale in late 2023. Her son-in-law Patrick Dumont is the team’s governor.

Cuban still owns more than a fourth of the Mavericks. Despite Cuban’s intense criticisms of Trump—he said Sunday the former president has “fascist tendencies”—he said that Adelson’s donations were not an issue. “We are friends and partners,” he wrote in an email to Front Office Sports. “Just like we have been for years. Politics doesn’t get in the way.” The Adelson family did spend a similar amount backing Trump in 2020, years before Cuban agreed to sell the team to them.

According to public records, Cuban has not given money to political candidates in decades, and he said recently that he hasn’t given Harris “a penny” despite his support.

Though no other sports owner comes close to Adelson’s spending, the world of U.S. sports is still packed with wealthy people donating to both campaigns. FOS used Federal Election Commission records and news reports to compile this record of political giving across U.S. sports.

Individuals can donate only $3,300 to a single candidate—once each in the candidate’s primary and general election campaigns—but can donate unlimited amounts to political action committees. PACs are legally barred from coordinating directly with candidates, but the distinctions between campaigns and PACs have grown thin as the U.S. Supreme Court has continued to strike down much of existing campaign finance law. 

The FEC data in this story covers records and reports from Jan. 1, 2023, to Oct. 17, 2024.

NBA/WNBA

No other NBA owner approached Adelson’s political spending. 

But Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta gave $420,000 to PACs backing Trump, and, hedging his bets, $13,200 to PACs for Harris. 

Herb Simon, who owns Indiana’s Pacers and Fever, donated $100,000 to pro-Harris PACs and $1,150.98 to every state’s Democratic party. He made dozens of $1,000 donations to Democratic House and Senate campaigns across the country, with donations totaling more than $380,000 this cycle.

Glen Taylor, who owns Minnesota’s Lynx and Timberwolves, gave Trump challenger Haley $2,000 in October 2023, months before Haley dropped out of the Republican primaries. The former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador narrowly beat Trump in the Vermont primary, while Trump cruised to renomination by winning the other 49 states.

Taylor himself was a GOP state senator in Minnesota in the 1980s.

Sixers co-owner and private equity billionaire David Blitzer also backed Haley, giving her the maximum $3,300 in January. He has since backed Harris PACs with at least $31,600, and has given $380,000 to candidates in this cycle.

Outside of the presidential campaign:

• Heat owner Micky Arison gave more than $100,000 to congressional candidates in both parties. Arison is the billionaire chairman of cruise company Carnival, and the recipients of his money largely sit on committees that oversee transportation.
• Magic owner Dan DeVos’s family has donated nearly $12 million to Republican causes across the current election cycle, giving more than $1 million to Republicans nationwide and maxing out $3,300 contributions to dozens of GOP House and Senate candidates. Eight members of the DeVos family have donated a total of $56,100 through maxed-out donations of $3,300 to Rep. John James (R., Mich.). The family has added another $1.2 million in a PAC for James. 

Dan DeVos’s sister-in-law Betsy was Trump’s secretary of education.

Washington Wizards, Mystics, and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis donated to both sides of the aisle, giving $50,000 to Harris’s PAC in addition to two $3,300 donations, but also supported Republican Senate candidate and former Maryland governor Larry Hogan. (Leonsis needs local political support, given his history of threatening to move his teams to Virginia and Maryland.)

Knicks owner James Dolan has been a major backer and longtime friend of Trump, but FEC records do not show any donations to Trump or his political action committees in this cycle. Dolan’s giving has been contained to local New York politics this time around, including a late-summer donation to since-indicted New York City mayor Eric Adams’s legal defense fund.

Dolan did permit Trump to use Madison Square Garden for a major campaign rally on Oct. 27, when Trump praised him by name. “I also want to thank Jim Dolan and everyone at Madison Square Garden,” Trump said Sunday. “There’s no place like Madison Square Garden.” Asked about the Trump rally, an MSG representative said the company was “neutral in political matters.” Indeed, the Harris campaign is currently running massive ads on the Sphere in Las Vegas, which Dolan also owns.

The WNBA teams in Indiana, Washington, Minnesota, New York, and Phoenix—plus the Golden State and Toronto expansion teams—share ownership with NBA teams. The Los Angeles Sparks are owned by a group that has major overlap with the consortium that owns the Dodgers and Chelsea, and the Las Vegas Aces are owned by Raiders owner Mark Davis.

But a handful of WNBA teams have independent ownership. That includes the Atlanta Dream, whose co-owner Larry Gottesdiener donated $6,600 to Adam Schiff’s campaign, and the Chicago Sky, whose co-owner Michael Alter gave $3,600 to the Harris Victory Fund.

Sue Bird, the WNBA legend who owns a share of the Seattle Storm, gave about $8,500 to Harris this summer.

NFL

About half of the NFL’s 31 owners have donated to politicians in this election cycle, led by Rob Walton, the Walmart heir whose family purchased the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion in 2022. Another member of the team’s ownership group, Carrie Walton Penner, gave $1 million to the Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC. She is Rob Walton’s daughter and the wife of team controlling owner Greg Penner.

Rob Walton has given $20.5 million to Republicans this cycle, according to The Washington Post. He donated a total of $10 million this cycle to a PAC that supports Republican Senate challengers Bernie Moreno (Ohio) and Dave McCormick (Pennsylvania), and has given to both candidates individually.

The Glazer family, which owns the Buccaneers and Manchester United, has donated heavily this cycle on both sides of the aisle. 

Avram Glazer, one of six siblings who co-owns the teams, has given more than $3.2 million to Democrats. That number includes more than $1.7 million to Biden and Harris, nearly $900,000 to Democratic groups in states around the country, more than $425,000 to the Democratic National Committee, more than $125,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and more than $50,000 to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. His brother Edward has given $722,000 to Republican causes this cycle, with the vast majority of that amount going to the Republican National Committee, and another portion heading to PACs linked to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Republican dropped out of the Republican primary in January and backed Trump.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank gave more than $4.4 million this election cycle, including more than $1.3 million to a Harris PAC and a $2 million gift to a nonpartisan election reform PAC.

Panthers owner David Tepper gave $2.9 million to Republicans. His donations went almost entirely to Haley and Chris Christie in the Republican primary, giving close to $2.4 million to the former United Nations ambassador and more than $500,000 to the former New Jersey governor. Public records do not show any donations from Tepper to Trump.

Jets owner Woody Johnson left the team to his brother Christopher during the Trump Administration to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. Since Trump left office, Johnson has continued to back his former boss. He’s donated more than $800,000 to the campaign and victory fund, and given out $10,000 to Republican groups in 19 states, D.C., and Guam.

Other presidential donations:

• Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam to Tim Scott in the GOP primary ($75,000)
• Steelers owner Art Rooney to Biden and Harris ($56,600)
• Broncos owner Rob Walton to Scott in the GOP primary ($53,300)
• Vikings owner Zygi Wilf to Biden and Harris ($31,600)
• Cardinals owner Mike Bidwill to Christie in the GOP primary ($28,300)
• Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk to Trump ($3,300)

Art Rooney’s father, Dan, was the Obama Administration’s ambassador to Ireland, a plum post usually reserved for major donors.

Beyond the presidential race, NFL owners have spent heavily on Senate races. The owners of both Ohio NFL teams, the Bengals and Browns, have supported Republican Bernie Moreno in his race to unseat Sen. Sherrod Brown. The Haslams, who own the Browns, have given $145,000 and hosted a fundraiser for Moreno. Their support has become a campaign issue late in the race, with Brown attacking the Haslams’ plans for a $2.4 billion domed stadium in the suburbs.

“I call on the Haslam family to keep the Browns in Cleveland,” Brown said. “I encourage my opponent to put politics aside and join me in encouraging the Haslams to stay there in Cleveland. My opponent has gotten a lot of money from them.” The Haslams have also given more than half a million dollars in total to the RNC and the Republicans’ House and Senate campaign arms, bringing their total spending to about $2 million. They also own a significant stake in the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

Bidwill and Patriots owner Robert Kraft—a friend of Trump until January 6—have combined for more than $50,000 to support Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick. The Pennsylvania and Ohio Senate races will be critical to determining which party controls the chamber next year.

Other notable donations:

• Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ($20,000 to Texas Republican Ted Cruz)
• Chargers owner Dean Spanos ($100,000 to Republicans, including $60,000 to GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy)
• Bidwill ($20,000 to retiring Arizona independent Kyrsten Sinema, and about $120,000 spent overall, mostly to Republicans)
• Dolphins owner Stephen Ross ($45,000 to Democratic congressional candidates and $35,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee)

Ross has a history of big spending in national and local elections across the country and hosted a fundraiser for Trump in 2019. He recently threw $100,000 behind the reelection of Santa Clara mayor Lisa Gillmor, who has sparred with the 49ers for years, because his real-estate development firm owns land across from Levi’s Stadium. In return, San Francisco owner Jed York fired attack ads back at Ross personally. 

Notably, Ross has not donated to Trump this election cycle.

Owners of at least 15 teams have given to the Gridiron PAC, a group founded in 2008 that has become a yearly $5,000 ritual for many owners. Some, like the Bears’ McCaskeys and the Chiefs’ Hunts, give exclusively to Gridiron. That PAC, like most leagues’ PACs, is bipartisan in its giving, including:

• $10,000 to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.)
• $5,000 to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio)
• $5,000 to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.)
• $5,000 to Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas)
• $5,000 to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.)

According to OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics, Gridiron has this cycle given $375,000 to Republican candidates and PACs, and $359,000 to Democratic candidates and PACs.

MLB 

Among MLB’s 30 principal owners, at least half have donated to political efforts this election cycle, and owners of at least 19 teams have given money to the Commissioner’s PAC.

According to OpenSecrets, the Commissioner’s PAC has donated $217,000 this cycle to Republican candidates and PACs, and $197,500 to Democratic candidates and PACs. Like the Gridiron PAC, the Commissioner’s PAC is typically a source of money for both parties.

The Ricketts family is heavily involved in U.S. politics, and it has remained so since buying the Cubs in 2009. Four siblings own the team through a trust, and are divided politically. Todd Ricketts is a Trump supporter (though he initially donated to Vivek Ramaswamy’s primary campaign) and former finance chair of the Republican National Committee. Pete was the Republican governor of Nebraska until 2023, when he was appointed to the U.S. Senate after Ben Sasse resigned. Tom Ricketts, the most visible owner of the four siblings, gave $289,100 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Their sister Laura is MLB’s first openly gay owner, and leans more liberal than her brothers. Laura has given more than $900,000 to the Harris Victory Fund and between $4,000 and $5,000 to every state’s Democratic party. She also maxed out the $3,300 to Harris’s campaign. She also owns the NWSL’s Chicago Stars.

Reds owner Bob Castellini gave Pete Ricketts’s last Senate campaign $3,300. Castellini also donated almost $300,000 to various Republican PACs and was one of the few owners to donate to Mike Pence’s presidential campaign before it was suspended in 2023. Castellini also gave to GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson ($6,600) as well as former Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy ($6,600) in their respective House races. 

Charles B. Johnson, Republican megadonor and principal owner of the San Francisco Giants, donated more than $2 million to various Republican PACs, including $1 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, and $1,720 to every state’s Republican party. Like Robert Kraft, Charles B. Johnson, who is the former CEO of investment management firm Franklin Templeton Investments, has backed Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick, giving his PAC $1 million this year. 

Cleveland Guardians owner Larry Dolan’s only donations (though over $1 million) went to supporting his son Matt, an anti-Trump Republican state senator who lost to Moreno in the Ohio GOP senate primary.

Other notable donations:

• Twins owner Jim Pohlad to Harris (more than $375,000) 
• Astros owner Jim Crane to Biden and Harris ($31,600) and DNC ($18,400)
• Rangers owner Ray Davis to Trump ($415,000, and nearly $400,000 to the Republican National Committee) 
• A’s owner John Fisher (more than $75,000 to more than 20 candidates and their PACs on both sides of the aisle, with the largest chunk going to former Maryland GOP governor Larry Hogan; a small sum to Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s short-lived presidential campaign)
• Mets owner Steve Cohen ($150,000 each to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Jeffries’s victory fund)
• Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick (nearly $100,000 to GOP South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign)
• White Sox (and Chicago Bulls) owner Jerry Reinsdorf (more than $25,000 to Hogan)

NHL

Owners in the NHL haven’t given nearly as much money as their counterparts in other leagues. A quarter of them are Canadian—federal law bars foreign nationals from contributing to U.S. political campaigns—while another is German. Of the 23 teams owned by Americans, 15 majority owners contributed directly to candidates or non-sports-affiliated PACs in this election cycle.

The billionaire owner of the Kings and one of the founders turned financial saviors of Major League Soccer, Philip Anschutz, is a prolific Republican donor. He has donated about $1.28 million to Republican candidates, PACs, and state groups in this cycle.

Bill Haslam will take over as majority owner of the Predators this summer, and is no stranger to politics or pro sports. He’s the former Republican governor of Tennessee, and the brother of Browns/Bucks owner Jimmy Haslam. Bill Haslam has donated more than $900,000 to Republicans in this election cycle. Outside of his large gifts to national Republican groups, his largest donations were to Trump challengers in the GOP primary: Tim Scott (nearly $325,000), Nikki Haley (more than $30,000), and Mike Pence ($3,300). (Bill Haslam has opposed Trump throughout the years, and neither Haslam brother—despite their conservative bent—has donated to Trump this cycle, according to public records.) He’s donated to individual candidates around the country, including giving more than $30,000 to help elect McCormick, and handsomely supporting Hogan and Mike Johnson.

The Kraken’s father-daughter duo of David Bonderman and Samantha Holloway have donated more than $600,000 combined to mostly Democratic candidates and groups. Bonderman gave more than $250,000 to Harris, while Holloway eclipsed $25,000. Bonderman made his $7.3 billion fortune in private equity and also has a minority stake in the Celtics. His family has long been considered the front-runners for a Seattle team if the NBA expands there after the Celtics are sold.

Some of the league’s most active donors, including the Capitals’ Leonsis and Devils’ Blitzer, also own NBA teams.

Other notable donations include:

• Golden Knights owner Bill Foley gave more than $280,000 to the Republican National Committee and more than $150,000 to Republican groups in 15 states and Guam. He also gave to DeSantis in the GOP primary ($6,600) and Trump and his PAC ($11,600), making him the only NHL owner to donate directly to the former president this election cycle.
• Lightning owner Jeff Vinik gave more than $160,000 this cycle, with most of that going to DeSantis during the GOP primary. His remaining donations also went to Floridian candidates, including $23,300 to support GOP Sen. Rick Scott. Vinik is in the process of selling the team, and will be the Lightning’s governor for the next three years.
• The Flyers are owned by Comcast, with executive Dan Hilferty serving as the team’s governor. He’s given more than $125,000 this election cycle, with small presidential donations to Christie and Harris. His largest donations were $26,600 each to the Republican former and current Speaker of the House, McCarthy and Johnson.
• Penguins minority owner Ron Burkle is a longtime Democratic donor and close ally of the Clintons. But this year, he’s given just over $100,000, with about half going to the Latino Victory Fund, and the other to Congressional candidates. He has not given to a presidential nominee despite giving $100,000 to Harris in her 2016 Senate campaign.
• Wild owner Craig Leipold gave just over $5,000 to Haley and her PAC during the GOP primary, and about $88,000 overall. The rest was split fairly evenly between Democratic and Republican causes in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Sports figures beyond NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL team owners 

While baseball and football direct their league office political giving through a commissioner’s PAC, NBA boss Adam Silver gives directly to candidates and parties. 

Silver has been a longtime backer of Democrats. He gave $10,000 to a Harris PAC, and the maximum $3,300 to her campaign. Silver also gave to New York Democratic congressional candidates Mondaire Jones ($3,300), John Avlon ($1,000) and Hakeem Jeffries ($1,000). Silver also gave $2,500 to the Democratic Party of North Carolina.

Several other major sports figures have close ties to the Trump family and Republican party.

• Linda McMahon, the former cofounder, president, and CEO of WWE, was Trump’s head of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019 (and has suggested she’s “ready to serve” again). She has continued her support for Trump this cycle, giving $23.1 million to Republican causes, according to The Washington Post. She chairs a pro-Trump think tank and has given millions to his PACs.

• Pat and Shirley Ryan, minority owners of the Bears—who have reshaped Northwestern’s sports programs with facilities upgrades and a $480 million donation for a new football stadium—have given $32.7 million to Republican causes this cycle. That puts them among the top 30 largest donors in this cycle, according to The Washington Post. 
  
• Ken Griffin, a hedge fund billionaire and major backer of U.S. Soccer, has been one of the most active political donors this cycle. He’s given more than $100 million to Republican causes. Griffin had given millions to Haley in the primaries, but he has not endorsed Trump, despite saying he thinks Trump will win.
  
• Dana White, the CEO of UFC and a longtime Trump supporter, gave $10,000 to every state GOP, $371,700 to the RNC, $60,000 to Cruz, and $16,000 to Trump.

The World Series will be over by this weekend, while the NFL doesn’t play on Tuesdays. The NBA goes dark for Election Day. But despite none of their teams being in action, owners in all of those leagues will win this November.

Editors’ note, Oct. 31, 2:50 p.m. ET: An earlier version of this story omitted Democratic donations from Falcons owner Arthur Blank and Republican donations from Panthers owner David Tepper.