The Washington Redskins, under attack from some congressional leaders over its “racist” image, spent $180,000 to lobby for its name, according to a new report on NFL political spending.
The remarkably high fee to Washington’s McGuireWoods consulting covered just the last half of the year when Hill leaders such as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid was demanding that the team change its name, considered by some as offensive to native Americans.
By comparison, the National Basketball Association spent just $150,000 — also through McGuireWoods — on lobbying for all of 2014 and on behalf of all 30 teams.
The Redskins lobbying tab was included in a new report from the campaign spending watchdog group, Center for Responsive Politics. The report looked at political spending by the NFL, and specifically the two teams in today’s Super Bowl, the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
Key findings in the CRP report written by Clark Mindock:
• Political contributions by those associated with the Patriots were higher than those with the Seahawks, and skewed dramatically in favor of Democrats.
• Pats owner Robert Kraft, his son and others with the team contributed $82,570 over the past years. Only one Republican got a check, $2,600 Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois in April 2014. Kirk was not up for re-election.
• Seahawks owner Paul Allen dished out $68,900 over the last four years — $31,900 to Democrats, $32,000 to Republicans, the rest to NFL’s Gridiron Political Action Committee. Seattle offensive tackle Russell Okung also donated $200 to President Obama’s reelection.
• Gridiron PAC raised $895,000 in 2014 but spent only 62.5 percent by the midterm elections.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
