Following the Money: Political Spending by FanDuel, DraftKings, and Fanatics
Political spending can be as convoluted as it is abundant
The Win for America super-PAC now has funding from three major sports betting companies and spent $33.4 million across 16 states in Q1 alone.
Last year, the bulk of political spending by FanDuel and DraftKings was at the federal level. Through one quarter this year, the rate of spending has increased by an order of magnitude and become more granular.
Using Federal Election Commission filings, Gaming America tracked the funding and spending from the three companies, through six PACs, and ultimately to over forty communications agencies, strategic consultancies, and other businesses.
That research culminated in the following flowchart, which should help make sense of this confusing structure.
From Source to Destination
DraftKings was the original funder of Win for America, but it appears that it and FanDuel now split costs evenly. It does very little direct spending, but funnels money into the American Conservative Fund — targeting Republican campaigns — and American Future, which appears to be for the Democrats.
Prior to Q1, Win for America’s only funding was $2 million from DraftKings. It received an additional $17.5 million from DraftKings and $19.5 million from FanDuel to even things up between the two. FBG Enterprises, the parent company of Fanatics Sportsbook, added another $4 million, bringing the total to $42 million.
The American Conservative Fund received over three times as much of that money as American Future. However, nearly half of that was merely passing through to three additional PACs. Those are targeted at particular states and have not yet reported any significant disbursements.
All told, here’s where that $42 million ended up:
- $7.9 million retained by Win for America (18.8%)
- $0.7 million spent directly by Win for America (1.7%)
- $3.5 million retained by American Conservative Fund (8.3%)
- $9.7 million spent by American Conservative Fund (23.1%)
- $3.0 million retained by Win for Pennsylvania (7.1%)
- $3.5 million retained by Texas Conservative Fund (8.3%)
- $6.4 million retained by American Conservative Action Fund Georgia (15.2%)
- $3.1 million retained by American Future (7.4%)
- $4.2 million spent by American Future (10.0%)
States listed in the flowchart represent where the contracted entities are located, which doesn’t necessarily represent which campaigns are being targeted. The PACs themselves are all based in Virginia, so spending in Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and D.C. may largely be a matter of convenience.
In other cases, however, the location of the communication agencies may provide a clue. For instance, the two largest recipients of American Future’s money are located in Iowa and Illinois. Iowa has historically been a swing state and may become one again as the current administration slides in the polls. Illinois is strongly a blue state, but one in which online sports betting has suddenly been targeted by higher taxes, which the companies would surely like to see reversed.
Players trust our reporting due to our commitment to unbiased and professional evaluations of the iGaming sector. We track hundreds of platforms and industry updates daily to ensure our news feed and leaderboards reflect the most recent market shifts. With nearly two decades of experience within iGaming, our team provides a wealth of expert knowledge. This long-standing expertise enables us to deliver thorough, reliable news and guidance to our readers.
Latest News
