Ken Griffin’s $32M to GOP Towers Over Soccer Election Spending

This is part of a Front Office Sports series about sports spending in the 2026 midterm elections.

Soccer’s biggest donor to the 2026 federal midterm elections isn’t an MLS or NWSL owner, or even an American who owns a top-tier team abroad.

It’s the man paying Mauricio Pochettino’s salary.

Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, a longtime U.S. Soccer donor, contributed more than $32 million almost entirely to Republican causes during 2025 and 2026 through the end of July, according to The New York Times.

Griffin is a longtime Republican donor who has also been publicly critical of U.S. President Donald Trump, lately about tariffs and the economy. He gave more than $100 million to Republicans in the 2024 election cycle. The founder and CEO of Citadel announced a $3 billion donation last month to Carnegie Mellon University, mostly to build a campus in Miami, where his company is based.

This election cycle, Griffin’s largest contributions are to super PACs, Senate and congressional funds, and other groups backing Republicans. He donated to individual Republican candidates across the country and their fundraising committees, including $2.5 million each to groups backing Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine), Sen. Dan Sullivan (R., Alaska), Sen. Ashley Moody (R., Fla.) and Wyoming’s now-withdrawn House candidate Frank Chapman.

In 2024, Griffin financially backed Pochettino’s first contract to lead the U.S. men’s national team, worth $6 million annually. When the Argentine manager was announced for another World Cup cycle in August, Griffin was once again supporting his salary “in significant part.” He’s also provided millions of dollars to U.S. Soccer to build mini-pitches in Chicago and South Florida.

Griffin’s contributions dwarf those of other major soccer figures. For perspective, his philanthropic counterpart at the federation for whom the new U.S. Soccer headquarters is named, Home Depot cofounder Arthur Blank, spent less than 1% of what Griffin did on the elections.

Blank and other MLS principal owners spent more than $4.5 million on federal races for the midterm election cycle, according to data compiled by FOS.

Current NWSL majority owners donated a little more than $400,000; however, when factoring in owners of 2028 expansion teams, that number jumps to more than $2.7 million.

FOS compiled data from Federal Election Commission filings to track political spending by team owners in major U.S. sports leagues. The federal donation records from Jan. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026, include contributions to individual candidates, political action committees, and other political groups, such as party committees at the state or federal level.

The biggest donations among MLS and NWSL owners mostly come from billionaires who own teams across sports, such as the Haslams, Blank, Philip Anschutz, and Laura Ricketts. For the NWSL, the biggest donors for their teams all entered the league within the past five years, demonstrating a shift in the type of owner buying into women’s soccer.

Los Angeles Galaxy owner Philip Anschutz contributed the heaviest among MLS owners, donating more than $1.3 million to Republicans. Donations from the billionaire described as “The Man Who Owns L.A.” supported a group tied to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R., La.), as well as Republican Senate PACs.

Jimmy and Dee Haslam, who together own the Columbus Crew and the NWSL’s upcoming expansion team in Columbus, gave about $2 million combined to Republicans. The NFL and NBA owners, who built their fortune through the truck stop chain Pilot Flying J, gave to Republican candidates, PACs, and groups across the country, including nearly $400,000 combined to groups supporting Sen. Jon Husted (R., Ohio). The Haslams each donated $17,500 to a group backing the House campaign of Ohio Republican Max Miller, who faces allegations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife, which he denies.

On the other side of the aisle, Chicago Stars owner Ricketts and Blank—who owns Atlanta United and NWSL 2028 newcomer Atlanta City FC—both gave around $315,000 this cycle to mostly Democratic causes. Ricketts’s largest contribution was worth $250,000 to Illinois Future PAC, which has supported Democratic Senate candidate Juliana Stratton. Blank made a $300,000 contribution to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, $5,000 to the Home Depot PAC, and gave $3,500 each to Republican and former Falcons kicker Jay Feely and New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Representatives for Blank and Ricketts declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Griffin did not comment. Representatives for the Haslams and Anschutz did not respond to requests for comment.

Minority owners are some of the biggest political donors in American soccer. Chicago Stars minority owner Jennifer Pritzker, a member of the billionaire Pritzker family and the cousin of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, donated more than $3 million almost entirely to Democrats. Prolific sports owner David Blitzer, who still has minority stakes in Real Salt Lake and the Utah Royals after selling his controlling interest in the teams, gave more than $150,000 mostly to Democrats. (His partner in Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, Josh Harris, gave $250,000 to a Republican PAC this cycle.)

Other top Republican-heavy contributors from MLS include Nashville SC’s John Ingram and New England Revolution’s Robert Kraft, who each gave around $200,000, as well as FC Cincinnati’s Carl Lindner III, who donated about $175,000.

More donations from MLS and NWSL majority owners include:

• John Fisher, San Jose Earthquakes: $93,000 mostly to Republicans
  
• Bennett Rosenthal, LAFC: $66,000 to Democrats
  
• Mark Wilf, Orlando City SC and Orlando Pride: more than $30,000, mostly to Democrats
  
• Stephen Kaplan and Jason Levien of DC United: more than $20,000 to Democrats, combined
  
• Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, Gotham FC: nearly $20,000 to Democrats
  
• Ted Segal, Houston Dynamo and Houston Dash: $17,000 to Democrats
  
• Clark Hunt, FC Dallas: $10,000 to NFL’s Gridiron PAC and one Republican
  
• Carolyn Kindle, St. Louis City SC: $10,000 for Enterprise Mobility PAC
  

A number of MLS and NWSL owners gave smaller donations under $10,000, including Denver Summit FC owner Rob Cohen, Angel City FC owner Bob Iger, and Alan Waxman of Bay FC owner Sixth Street Partners, who each gave $5,000 or more to trade PACs. Vancouver Whitecaps owner Steve Luczo gave $7,000 to support a Democrat; Racing Louisville lead owner John Neace contributed $2,500 to back a Republican. Sporting KC owner Peter Mallouk, who is also a minority owner of baseball’s Kansas City Royals, gave under $3,000 to MLB’s PAC, while Boston Legacy FC owner Jennifer Epstein gave a small amount to a progressive PAC.

Premier League Owners

Many of the richest soccer owners in the U.S. are invested in teams abroad, and those individuals spent aggressively on political races.

Dodgers minority owner Todd Boehly, who recently sold his shares and gave up his seat as chairman of Chelsea, donated $1 million to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA, Inc., during this cycle, as well as more than $20,000 to Republican candidates. His former co-owner at Chelsea, Mark Walter, is selling his sports assets amid federal investigations into his companies; he gave $10,000 to MLB’s PAC.

Among other owners, Manchester United and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Edward Glazer donated close to $850,000 to Republicans, while Bournemouth’s Bill Foley (who also owns the Vegas Golden Knights and is in the mix for the Las Vegas NBA team) and Crystal Palace and Jets owner Woody Johnson each gave more than $550,000, largely to Republicans. Other owners gave smaller amounts to Democrats and trade PACs, including the NFL’s Gridiron PAC.

This series was reported and produced by Amanda Christovich, Margaret Fleming, Eli Kronenberg, Katie Krzaczek, and Dennis Young.