Billionaire's playground: the world of professional sports

[theHandpuppet]

23. Yep. NFL owners have no problem voting with their (sizable) wallets

And it's obviously quite effective, too.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/10/07/nfl-owners-love-the-gop/

NFL Owners Love The GOP
Kurt Badenhausen, Forbes Staff
Business 10/07/2011

The NFL is filled with fat cat owners who have gotten rich on the backs of their football teams like Jerry Jones and Dallas Cowboys. Others have built their empires through outside means like Paul Allen and Microsoft. By our count there are 15 NFL owners with net worths of at least $1 billion.

Not surprisingly, these owners overwhelmingly funnel their political contributions to candidates in the Republican Party according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics that looked at contributions of NFL owners, players and coaches.

Leading the way is Houston Texans owner Robert McNair who made his fortune when he sold power operator Cogen Technologies to Enron in 1999. McNair, worth $1.5 billion, contributed $215,200 to Republican political candidates since January 2009. Democrats got nothing. Led by McNair, the Texans are the most politically active team with total contributions of $293,100. A couple of Texans broke ranks from the boss with $5,800 steered towards Democratic candidates.

Overall the Center for Responsive Politics found $1.4 million in political contributions from the 32 NFL teams since 2009 with the money going to Republican candidates by a more than 2 to 1 margin....