Sports Betting Industry Spends $72M on US Midterm Elections

The online sports betting industry has spent at least $72 million on US midterm elections, according to the latest campaign election data. This spending is primarily aimed at influencing state races and legislative outcomes pertaining to sports betting.

What Happened

Online sports betting companies, including DraftKings and FanDuel, have increased their election spending on the U.S. midterms to a minimum of $72 million, as reported by NBC News. This surge in spending coincides with increased scrutiny and competition from prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, according to Reuters.

The industry is deploying funds through Win for America, a Super Political Action Committee (PAC), which then directs money to two affiliate PACs: American Future for Democratic state races and the American Conservative Fund for Republican state races, as stated by Reuters. Win for America, launched late last year, represents an unprecedented level of spending for the industry, according to Public Citizen research director Rick Claypool.

Key Details

• The sports betting industry has spent at least $72 million on U.S. midterm elections, according to campaign election data (NBC News).
• Initial contributions to Win for America totaled $43 million in the first quarter, followed by an additional $29 million in the second quarter, according to federal election records (Reuters).
• DraftKings contributed at least $34 million to Win for America, FanDuel at least $27 million, and bet365 and Fanatics each donated $5.5 million in the current two-year election cycle (Reuters).
• Win for America has spent over $12 million in Georgia state races through its affiliate PACs, impacting 34 legislative races, with all but two industry-supported candidates reportedly winning the primary (Reuters, Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
• The industry is reportedly the third-largest corporate donor in the U.S. midterms, behind the crypto and technology sectors, aiming to elect sympathetic candidates (Public Citizen, according to Reuters).
• Since the 2018 Supreme Court decision which allowed states to legalize sports betting, 39 states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of sports betting, with 33 allowing online sports betting, as reported by the American Gaming Association (Reuters).
• Lobbying spending by FanDuel rose to $1.1 million last year, a sevenfold increase from 2024, while DraftKings’ annual lobbying spending more than doubled to approximately $900,000, according to OpenSecrets (Reuters).

Why It Matters

This significant financial investment by the sports betting industry into U.S. midterm elections indicates a strategic effort to influence legislative and regulatory environments across states. The spending funneling through Super PACs like Win for America highlights the industry’s focus on supporting candidates that may favor their operational interests, particularly as states consider legislation regarding gambling legalization or taxation, as evidenced in Georgia and Pennsylvania, according to Reuters.

The rise in this political spending places the sports betting industry as a major corporate donor in U.S. elections. This financial activity occurs as the industry navigates competition from prediction markets and seeks to solidify its legal standing and market expansion following the 2018 Supreme Court decision that enabled widespread state-level legalization of sports betting, according to Reuters.

What’s Next

The impact of this investment is already apparent in some state races, with a high success rate for industry-backed candidates in Georgia primaries where gambling legalization is being weighed by the legislature, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Reuters. Win for America is also significantly spending in Pennsylvania, where discussions on raising taxes for the online sports betting industry to support public transportation are ongoing, as detailed by election records mentioned by Reuters.

Originally reported by NBC News·Published 28 Jul 2026, 19:41