Today, Stephen Bisciotti, John York and Denise DeBartolo York will be cheering for different teams to win Super Bowl XLVII. But they have a common interest in the world of money in politics.
Since 2008, Bisciotti, the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, has donated $20,000 to Gridiron-PAC, the official political action committee of the National Football League, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of Federal Election Commission records.
Meanwhile, the Yorks, the main co-owners of the San Francisco 49ers, have contributed a combined $50,000 to Gridiron-PAC since 2008, records indicate.
During the 2012 election cycle alone, Gridiron-PAC raised more than $900,000 — it’s most prolific cycle on record, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It’s also part of an overall escalation in the NFL’s political involvement, which now includes a powerful lobbying team.
In the two-year period, Gridiron-PAC doled out $804,000 to a variety of Republican and Democratic candidates, party groups and other political committees, federal records show.
The largest beneficiaries — at $30,000 a piece — were the four major party committees: the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The PAC also reported making a $10,000 donation to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and a $2,500 charitable contribtion to the Brain Injury Association of Vermont.
Neither Super Bowl team owner has (yet?) ponied up for any super PACs — although last year, the Arizona Cardinals became the first NFL team to directly donate to this kind of political group, when it gave $5,000 to the super PAC of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican. Unlike traditional PACs, like Gridiron-PAC, which may only accept contributions up to $5,000 per year from individuals, super PACs may accept contributions without limit from individuals, corporations and unions.
Via The Center for Public Integrity.
