Texas sports bosses give big to politics. But one owner has wagered far more than any of the rest.
Miriam Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate and majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has poured more than $432 million into candidates and political committees, far outpacing any other Texas franchise owner.
That reach surfaced again in the Texas primaries this month. Adelson-aligned political groups spent heavily in legislative races tied to her push to legalize gambling, though several of their top candidates fell short.
Adelson’s federal and state campaign contributions, virtually all going to Republicans, place her among the most prolific political donors in America, according to a review by The Dallas Morning News of disclosure reports.
Political Points
Among Texas sports owners, the gap is even more striking.
Second place is Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who has given just over $8 million, largely to GOP state and federal candidates and committees since 1992.
Even Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys and one of the most influential figures in sports, trails Adelson by a wide margin. He and his children have donated about $4 million to state and federal candidates and committees, with nearly 75% going to Republicans.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (center) speaks during end-of-season news conference, on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 in Frisco.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
Adelson, whose family purchased a majority share of the NBA’s Mavericks in late 2023, declined to comment on her campaign giving, according to a spokesman.
Political donations by sports owners are common across football, basketball, baseball and soccer. But they also raise questions about influence and accountability when teams awash in public loyalty are used to promote private political agendas.
“When you get to an outlier like an Adelson, who is donating an excessive amount of money, then you might have more opportunity for fans to say, ‘Oh, wait a minute. Why is my fandom going to support that?” said Michael Giardina, a Florida State University professor who studies the intersection of sports and politics.
In a league of her own
Adelson’s political money flows overwhelmingly to Republicans.
Only $19,000 of the more than $400 million she’s spent since 1988 went to a Democratic candidate or committee, according to federal and state records. The rare Democratic contributions largely supported politicians from her home state of Nevada, including former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Her political donations surged in 2012, two years after the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling allowed unlimited contributions to independent political groups. Since then, Adelson’s largest donations include:
$151 million, Preserve America PAC, the super PAC aligned with Donald Trump.$105 million, Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP super PAC supporting Senate candidates.$61 million, Congressional Leadership Fund, the GOP super PAC backing House candidates.$15 million, Restore Our Future Inc., the super PAC supporting former Sen. Mitt Romney.
Her willingness to spend big to back Donald Trump has earned her rare access to the president.
Speaking before the Israeli parliament last year, Trump recalled frequent White House visits from Adelson and her late husband, casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson.
“Miriam and Sheldon would come into the office,” Trump said while she sat in the audience. “They call me, he’d call me. I think they had more trips to the White House than anybody else I could think of.”
In the run-up to the 2024 election, Adelson ranked among Trump’s top donors, behind only tech billionaire Elon Musk and banking heir Timothy Mellon.
She’s given more than $156 million to state and federal campaigns since she and her family bought the Mavs.
Large donations often translate into access, said Ian Vandewalker, senior counsel at the Brennan Center’s Elections and Government Program. When politicians take power, he said, they “know what that donor wants” and are likely to “pick up the phone” if that donor calls.
A stark contrast
Adelson’s approach marks a sharp departure from that of former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban.
Cuban, who sold his majority stake to the Adelson family in late 2023, has avoided political giving altogether.
He has not donated to candidates or political committees in more than 20 years.
“I don’t give money to candidates because I don’t want to have to buy influence,” Cuban said in an email to The News. “Either my ideas stand on their own merit, or they don’t.”
From left, Miriam Adelson, (left) controlling shareholder of the Las Vegas Sandals Corp., high fives Dallas Mavericks alternate Governor Mark Cuban after an NBA basketball game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns, on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
Other Texas sports owners have waded deeper.
Jones, the Cowboys owner, recently gave $1 million to Trump organization MAGA Inc. to support his January 2025 inauguration, joining dozens of corporations and billionaires who funded the ceremony.
A Cowboys spokesman said Jones was unavailable for an interview.
Jones also has donated more than $1 million in cash and in-kind contributions to Gov. Greg Abbott and about $220,000 to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Fertitta, the Rockets owner, has given about $2 million to Abbott and $1 million to Patrick. Roughly $4.8 million of the $5.5 million he has spent on Texas politics has gone to GOP candidates and committees.
Fertitta did not respond to requests for comment.
Texas gambling push
Adelson’s political influence in Texas has focused heavily on one issue: legalizing casino gambling.
She has spent about $29 million on Texas political activity aimed at opening the door to casino resorts.
Most of the money has flowed through two political groups aligned with the company, Texas Sands and Texas Defense. Those PACs have funded advertising campaigns, backed legislative candidates and donated directly to statewide leaders.
Texas Ethics Commission records show that Abbott and the Republican State Leadership Committee each received $2 million in donations from those PACs and Adelson. Texas does not cap the amount of political contributions.
Abbott, who is running for reelection, said in 2023 that he was open to destination-style casino resorts in Texas. Last year, he said he is ready to allow online sports betting in Texas.
Yet the effort has struggled to gain traction at the Capitol, chiefly blocked by Patrick, a gambling opponent who controls the Senate. Patrick, running for a fourth term, recently cruised to victory in the GOP primary.
Texas Sands has tried to tip legislative races toward candidates open to casinos.
In a special state Senate contest this year in Tarrant County, the PAC poured $1.2 million into backing a pro-gambling Republican candidate while an allied group spent another $2 million.
The candidate finished third. A Democrat who supports gambling but received no money from Adelson later won the seat in an upset.
The PAC also supported several challengers in Republican primaries who favored gambling expansion. Most lost.
Even so, the organization signaled it intends to stay in the fight, declaring in a recent statement that it is playing the “long game” and that “Texas Sands PAC is playing to win.”
Fan disconnect
Giardina, the FSU professor, said most sports owners donate little or nothing at all.
“The average owner either doesn’t contribute, they contribute modestly, or they donate to both parties on the local level,” Giardina said. “Maybe they’re donating to a mayoral race in the city in which their team is in. Maybe a governor’s race.”
The News found that Texas Rangers majority owner Ray Davis gave nearly $2 million in federal and state donations. Republicans received 99% of that.
Beyond that, no other pro sports team owner in Texas has contributed more than $450,000. Some, including the owners of the San Antonio Spurs, show no donations to state or federal campaigns.
Fans and politics
The scale of Adelson’s political activity could potentially raise questions for some fans whose political views differ. But political views rarely shake sports loyalty, Giardina said.
For the most part, fans “tend to divorce themselves from the ownership group or the politics of the owner to their particular fandom,” he said. “Fandom of a sports team is quite different from being just a regular consumer.”
The emotional ties between a team and its community often shield owners from the scrutiny faced by politicians or corporations. In many cases, because of fans’ allegiance to teams, athletes often face greater backlash than the owners who employ them, Giardina said.
Ownership politics have also shifted over time for Mavericks fans.
The franchise once included a stake held by Ross Perot Jr., son of independent presidential candidate Ross Perot. Cuban later ran the team for two decades with a more progressive public profile.
The Adelson family’s purchase of the team marked another abrupt partisan turn.
Yet for many fans, ownership politics remain secondary to wins and losses.
If loyalties shift, Giardina said, it’s usually because of “bad sports decisions.”
Some already are saying as much online.
Posts on the Mavericks Reddit forum include calls for Adelson to sell the team. Some cite politics or her support for Israel.
But most remain fixated on one thing: the Luka Doncic trade.