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Politics

Athletes (Obama) vs. Owners (McCain)

Our political research at SportsAgentBlog.com reveals that many professional athletes support Barack Obama.  In fact, athletes are coming out in an unprecidented fashion, publicly announcing their support for the Democratic candidate.  The King endorses Obama, Greg Oden has shown his support for Barack, Tiger Woods is on the Obama bandwagon, and agent Leigh Steinberg started a project called Athletes for Obama.  In my interview with Mr. Steinberg, he also noted that,

Traditionally, most athletes have been conservatives or Republicans. People who pay heavy taxes, especially young athletes who are paying more taxes from their first taxes than they have ever made their entire life, have a good reason to be anti-tax. This has led them to be more traditional followers of the Republican party. Or they are apolitical because they are so involved in their athletic career.

It definitely makes sense, which is why I was not surprised to hear that a large portion of NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB owners support John McCain.  If athletes have an incentive to vote Republican based on lower taxes, then owners should be even more inclined to lean to the right, as they are in an even higher tax bracket.

The original story, which was eventually picked up by many media outlets, first appeared in Politico.  This statement wraps up the entire article:

Through the end of June, team owners in the four major sports and their families have given to or raised as much or more than $3.2 million for McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, compared with as much as $615,000 for his Democratic rival Obama.

But the sports industry is only one small sector of the general economy, and Obama has been destroying McCain in overall contributions.

Obama, in collecting $356 million in his personal and joint campaign accounts, has nearly doubled McCain’s overall fund raising, and has raised more money from most business and industrial sectors.

I can guarantee one thing: the American public will be more greatly influenced by who America’s high-profile athletes support than the political preferences of owners of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

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