On Tuesday, Michigan voters will have their last chance to choose between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed to represent their state in the United States Senate.
Most sports owners have already chosen, and it’s clear who they want.
As Front Office Sports (FOS) reports, Rogers and the PACs supporting his candidacy have received financial donations from at least ten principal owners of major sports franchises.
As for his opponent, El-Sayed, FOS reports only two donations from the world of sports, and neither from a principal owner. The only two donations found were from San Diego Padres pitcher Lucas Giolito and Chicago Stars minority owner Jennifer Pritzker.
FOS relied on Federal Election Commission (FEC) records for their analysis.
The list of sports owners contributing to Rogers is as follows.
- Orlando Magic owners Dick and Dan DeVos ($7,000 each)
- Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Browns, and Columbus Crew owner Jimmy Haslam ($7,000)
- Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill ($7,000)
- Denver Broncos owner Rob Walton ($7,000)
- Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick ($3,500)
- Cincinnati Reds owner Robert Castellini ($3,500)
- Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt ($3,500)
- Atlanta Hawks owner Antony Ressler ($3,500)
- Los Angeles Kings owner Philip Anschutz ($3,500)
As FOS reports:
Meanwhile, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft donated $100,000 to the Great Lakes Conservatives Fund (GLCF), a Super PAC formed to support Rogers. GLCF has spent over $20 million in advertising buys this cycle, exclusively on the Michigan Senate race. Kraft previously donated $3,500 to the principal committee for Rep. Haley Stevens, El-Sayed’s Democratic primary opponent who he narrowly defeated in August. A representative for Kraft did not immediately respond to a comment request.
Other contributors to GLCF include Bidwill ($5,000), Kendrick ($5,000), Dan DeVos ($5,000), and Haslam ($3,000).
Some sports kingmakers who don’t own a team also heavily backed Rogers. Ben Navarro, who owns the Cincinnati and Charleston tennis tournaments and is the father of WTA top-30 player Emma Navarro, donated $500,000 to GLCF. Casey Wasserman, the chairperson and president of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, donated $25,000 to Team Rogers.
As for the donations to El-Sayed, Giolito contributed $1,250, and Pritzker donated $7,000 to the campaign and another $565 to Rebellion PAC, a group founded by leftist activist and commentator Cenk Uygur.
As for local Michigan sports owners, FOS reveals that they appear to have declined to donate to either candidate.
