The Political Donation History Of Wealthy Sports Owners

There was an interesting new article with research completed by Disney’s ESPN and the political polling analysis organization FiveThirtyEight. The article linked here is the first in a series of six. It is much suggested reading by the Democracy Chronicles staff, so take a look:

American professional sports owners have contributed nearly $47 million in federal elections since 2015, according to research by ESPN in partnership with FiveThirtyEight, including $10 million to Republican causes and $1.9 million to Democratic causes so far in the 2020 election cycle.

That strong Republican lean is consistent with owners’ spending in the 2018 and 2016 federal elections as well.

See the full article at FiveThirtyEight. Money politics has long dominated American politics, but the scale of the problem has gotten much worse since the Supreme Court made its infamous 2010 ruling known as Citizens United. This is despite the fact that evidence is growing that small donors can fund political campaigns if they get some support such as through a voluntary public matching funds program. New York City’s system of matching funds for small donors has gotten particular attention.

Also visit Democracy Chronicles main sections on American Democracy and Money Politics or our articles on Worldwide Corruption.