Team owners poured over $100M into this election cycle, but a Democratic wave doesn't mean the money machine behind American sports is going anywhere.
American sports' billionaire owners went all in on Republicans this cycle, putting more than $100 million into the race by industry tallies. Then Tuesday night happened. Democratic wins have shifted the balance of power in Washington, and the people who own the teams backed the losing side.
But don't read this as the little guy storming the owners' box. Democrats may be the vehicle for pushing back on Trump and the MAGA movement, but they have also helped build the setup that keeps team owners rich. The idea that one party alone is behind sports' money problems doesn't hold up.
Look at sports betting. New Jersey's Democratic governor Phil Murphy placed the state's first legal wager in 2018. Illinois governor JB Pritzker signed betting into law a year later. In 2022, New York's mobile sportsbooks went live under Governor Kathy Hochul, with the state taking 51% of the revenue. In some of the country's biggest betting markets, the bookmakers' most dependable partner has been a Democratic statehouse.
That's the real story for US sports. Gambling expansion and stadium subsidies have had backing from both parties, so a change in who holds power doesn't automatically change who profits. The owners lost an election bet, but the system that pays them still has plenty of support on both sides of the aisle.
