Adelson, Fertitta Lead List of Sports Donors to Trump Inauguration

Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson gave $1 million to President Donald Trump’s inauguration committee, according to a recent FEC filing, one of at least a dozen sports owners and sports companies that donated to the celebration marking Trump’s return to the White House.

Other individuals who donated include Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta ($1 million), multiple members of the DeVos family that owns the Orlando Magic ($1 million combined) and multiple members of the Ricketts family that owns the Chicago Cubs ($1.6 million combined). Companies include sportsbooks DraftKings ($502,000) and FanDuel ($482,003.73), and trading platform Robinhood ($2 million), which is pushing into sports futures markets that look a lot like betting.

Inauguration committees, which oversee multiple days of dinners, parties and other VIP events, are required to report the names of donors that give more than $200. In total, the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee Inc. raised $245.3 million, more than double the previous record of $107 million set by Trump in 2017. Joe Biden, for reference, collected $62 million four years ago; George W. Bush raised $30 million in 2001.

There were also some notable sports names that did donate to Trump’s inauguration in 2017, but not to this year’s committee. They include former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder; New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s Kraft Group; Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan; late Houston Texans owner Bob McNair; New York Jets owner Woody Johnson; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen; the Madison Square Garden Co., owner of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers; Tampa Bay Buccaneers co-owner Ed Glazer; and Stan Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche.  

The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, part owners of the new San Diego MLS franchise, gave $500,000 to this year’s inauguration. Delaware North, controlled by the owners of the Boston Bruins, gave $50,000, while Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Business Services gave $1 million. Sports facilities developer Oak View Group gave $250,000.

Betsy DeVos, who personally gave $125,000, served as Secretary of Education during Trump’s first term. WWE co-founder Linda McMahon, who gave $1 million, is the current Secretary of Education.

The list also includes some of the country’s biggest companies, many of which bleed into sports. Those big public companies include Amazon, Meta, Pepsi, Microsoft, Google, JPMorgan Chase, United Airlines, Visa, Walmart, Bank of America, Comcast and Deloitte.

Billionaire Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel and frequent sports bidder, gave $1 million. Earlier this month Griffin urged owners to band together to pressure Trump to walk back his proposed tariffs.

Adelson’s late husband Sheldon gave in 2017 as well. It does not appear that Fertitta, DraftKings, FanDuel, Oak View Group or Delaware North gave in 2017.

With assistance from Kurt Badenhausen.