NFL owners have donated at least $28 million to federal political candidates and causes during the 2023-24 election cycle − a hefty sum that, according to USA TODAY Sports research, marks a sevenfold increase from the amount spent over the same time period four years ago.
The significant increase in owners’ political giving can be attributed in large part − though not exclusively − to the addition of the Walton-Penner ownership group, which purchased the Denver Broncos in 2022. According to Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by USA TODAY Sports, Broncos co-owner Rob Walton has donated more than $16.5 million between January 1, 2023 and October 1, while the team’s controlling owner Greg Penner and co-owner Carrie Walton Penner are also among the biggest donors in NFL ownership. The Penners, who oversee day-to-day operations of the team, have given $1.2 million, including a $1 million donation from Carrie Walton Penner to a Democratic political action committee earlier this year.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank ($3.3 million), Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper ($2.9 million) and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson ($1.8 million) are among the other NFL leaders who have eclipsed seven figures in donations. Of the three, only Blank’s political giving has favored Democrats; He had donated more than $1.3 million to Kamala Harris’ joint fundraising committee as of October 1, while also speaking out publicly to support her.
‘Kamala Harris is the right leader at a critical time in our country who can bring people together and help business and communities thrive,’ he said in a statement later released by the ‘Business Leaders for Harris’ advocacy group.
Blank declined an interview request from USA TODAY Sports through a spokesperson, while team spokespeople for the other million-dollar donors among NFL ownership either declined similar requests or did not reply.
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In response to a request for comment, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy wrote in an email that ‘it is up to club personnel to determine to which candidates and causes they will contribute.’
NFL owners’ political donations lean right
To better understand the political influence wielded by owners in the country’s preeminent professional sports league, USA TODAY Sports reviewed all of the federal campaign contributions made by teams’ principal owners and/or managing partners from Jan. 1, 2023 to October 1. In group ownership arrangements, the newspaper also tracked donations of up to three additional co-owners – including spouses or other family members – depending on their level of association and involvement with their team.
The analysis showed that, collectively, NFL owners’ donations during the current election cycle leaned right. Of the 24 owners with partisan giving, 16 donated primarily or exclusively to Republican candidates, political action committees (PACs) and joint fundraising committees. And in total, about 83% of the money donated by NFL owners has gone to conservative candidates and causes − a figure skewed significantly by Walton, who is a big-money Republican donor. (Though the Walmart heir spearheaded the family’s $4.65 billion purchase of the Broncos in 2022, he stepped back last fall and ceded his role as controlling owner to Greg Penner, his son-in-law.)
Among the other top donors, Blank has primarily supported the Harris campaign and Unite America, a non-partisan PAC that focuses on election reform. Tepper focused most of his giving on former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley during her Republican presidential primary campaign. And all of Johnson’s federal donations have gone to the man who eventually beat her to win the Republican nomination, former president Donald Trump. (Johnson served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom during Trump’s time in office.)
The right-leaning nature of NFL owners’ political giving is not unusual among American sports owners, many of whom made their fortunes in other industries and do not reference their teams in the FEC documents that accompany their political donations. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, a USA TODAY Sports analysis of political giving by owners in the six most prominent U.S. sports leagues found that they collectively gave more frequently to Republican candidates than Democrats and in larger amounts − about $12 to Republicans for every $1 donated to Democrats.
NFL owners’ political spending way up from 2020
Ahead of the previous presidential election, NFL owners’ political donations were largely limited to a handful of big spenders − namely Johnson, who gave more money on the federal level in 2020 than every other owner combined. The total amount donated by NFL owners in 2019-20 was a little more than $3.6 million.
This cycle, that total has increased more than 600%, with eight NFL owners more than doubling their individual political giving from four years ago. That group includes Blank, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ($16,600 donated), Houston Texans owner Janice McNair ($69,800), New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft ($58,500) and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II ($68,300), among others.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, meanwhile, significantly scaled back the amount he’s donated to political candidates and campaigns. He is also one of the few NFL owners who split his donations almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats, giving about $50,000 to the former and $45,000 to the latter. It’s a significant departure from 2019-20, when he donated nearly five times as much to Republicans ($195,000) as Democrats ($40,000).
Some NFL owners give only to Gridiron PAC
Many NFL owners donate to political candidates and causes for reasons that have nothing to do with football − to advocate for their own ideological beliefs or advance other business interests. Other owners prefer to stay on the political sidelines altogether.
Among the NFL owners tracked by USA TODAY Sports, roughly 1 in 5 have not donated a single dollar to federal candidates or causes so far this election cycle − though it is possible that some members of that group have instead made donations at the state or local level. Another quarter have donated only the Gridiron PAC, a political action committee founded by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in 2008 to advance the league’s interests on Capitol Hill.
According to campaign contribution records, the Gridion PAC had received about $432,000 in donations from team owners and NFL employees during the current election cycle, as of October 1. McCarthy said that roughly $760,000 will be distributed to candidates and causes, with the donations split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.
‘The focus is on leadership, key committees, incumbent Congressional officeholders and members with NFL teams in their district or state,’ McCarthy wrote in an email. ‘There are no contributions to governors, presidents or challengers.’
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.