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See all Sports Biz PostsSports Biz with Darren Rovell
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Nov.04
11:04 AM ET
Tuesday, 4 Nov 2008
Sports Team Owners For McCain? Yes--And No

Sports team owners, in a collective sense, are rooting for John McCain to win the election tonight. That's because in general, the politicians with the (R) next to their name not only stand for Republican, but for the values of the rich.

It's one of the reasons why, so many more owners have supported McCain than Obama. Just think of the capital gains tax alone. If Obama becomes president, it has been speculate that he'd advocate for a capital gains tax as high as 29 percent, up from the current level of 15 percent.

"He wants to double the capital gains tax, or almost double it," H. Wayne Huizenga, who owns 50 percent of the Dolphins, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last week. "I'd rather give it to charity than to him."

Although an Obama spokesman told the paper than the number is closer to 20 percent, a five percent tax on say, a $750 million NFL team still means giving up $37.5 million more.

With that in mind, you start to wonder if the economy, combined with a potential rise in the capital gains tax with an Obama presidency, will lead to more teams being on the market over the next couple months than ever before.

But it's all not about the capital gains tax. Today, I'm here in Pennsylvania, where I continue to be confused by the Rooneys. After turning down $800 million in cash from Stanley Druckenmiller —clearly the highest bid for the Steelers—Steelers chairman Dan Rooney is not only supporting Obama, he has been campaigning for him. You'd think if you were even thinking about unloading the family fortune, you'd be Republican.

Just goes to show you that although the national economy and personal finances are the key consideration when thinking about who to vote for during this election, it's certainly not the only factor.

One final note that I found interesting. The SportsBusiness Journal combed through presidential campaign contributions and revealed that Matthew Zell, Sam Zell's son, gave money to Obama's campaign, while Zell himself financially supported McCain. Zell is of course selling the top team on the market, the Chicago Cubs.

Say the Cubs and Wrigley Field go for $950 million after a five percent capital gains increase. That's a $48 million donation to the government. Perhaps in this case, the Zells are forced to split because if Obama loses, he's back to being an Illinois senator and can really look down on them for opposing him.

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