DraftKings Announces Launch of New Political Action Committee

The PAC will be led by Lauren Pfingstag Vahey, the company’s Senior Federal Affairs Director, and Senior Vice President Griffin Finan.

Ziv Chen

Last Updated: June 20, 2025 9:48 AM EDT • 3 minute read

DraftKings Announces Launch of New Political Action Committee — Pictured: In this photo illustration the DraftKings logo seen displayed on a smartphone. Photo by Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Imagn Images.

Sports betting company DraftKings has announced that it will enter politics by launching a corporate Political Action Committee (PAC).

The DraftKings PAC was announced earlier this week and will be led by Lauren Pfingstag Vahey, the company’s Senior Federal Affairs Director, and Senior Vice President Griffin Finan.

It follows the launch of other gambling PACs, including the PrizePicks PAC, established in 2023. Many casino operators, including MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, also have their own PACs.

The PAC coincides with concerns about regulation and scrutiny at the federal level. Last year, legislators introduced a law providing new protections for sports betting consumers. In December, a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on sports betting was followed by calls for antitrust investigations into the operations of DraftKings and its rival, FanDuel.

This won’t, however, be the first time that DraftKings has spent money on politics. Last year, it reportedly spent $420,000 on federal lobbying, while filings to the Federal Election Committee show that it gave over $500,000 to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee.

Meanwhile, the sportsbook operator donated significantly in the campaign to get voters to approve sports betting in Missouri, giving more than $10 million to the successful Winning for Missouri Education campaign.

PAC launch comes amid new Illinois sports betting tax

While DraftKings gears up to fight in Washington, the sports betting sector also faces local challenges, most notably in the Illinois sports betting market.

Last weekend, the state legislature passed a new tax that will impact sports betting operators in the state. The tax added a charge of $0.25 for each of a company’s first 20 million wagers and $0.50 for each wager after that.

It is part of a package of measures to raise money to fund public transport and follows the increase in the tax on sportsbooks from 15% to 40% last year. That 40% tax still applies to operators in addition to the new fee.

As expected, the sports betting sector or organizations associated with the leading operators did not receive the tax raise.

“With this change, lawmakers are essentially urging customers, and especially these small dollar bettors, to switch to unsafe and unregulated sportsbooks who defy state consumer protections and generate zero taxes for state priorities. These illegal operators are the big winners from Saturday’s vote,” said the Sports Betting Alliance in a statement representing FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Fanatics.

DraftKings takes action

In the wake of the tax rise, DraftKings took swift action. The company announced that it would impose a $0.50 transaction fee for all online and mobile sports bets made in the state from Sept. 1, 2025.

“We are disappointed that Illinois policymakers have chosen to more than triple our tax rate over the past two years, and we are very concerned about what this will do to the legal, regulated industry. Meanwhile, Illinois continues to fuel the rapidly growing illegal industry, which pays no taxes or fees and provides none of the consumer protections that regulated operators offer,” said DraftKings CEO Jason Robins.

Written by:
Ziv Chen

Ziv has over two decades of experience in the igaming and sports betting industry, having served in senior marketing and business development positions with both B2C and B2B companies, including Playtech and Microgaming. In 2019, Ziv decided to pursue his passion for writing and became a fulltime industry journalist, covering casino, sports, and gambling business news. He’s specialties include casino games and technology, US state gambling regulation, company performance, as well as gambling affiliates and marketing. As a Pitt graduate, Ziv is a diehard fan of all Pittsburgh sports teams, with the Steelers at the top of the list. In his free time, he enjoys reading crime fiction, biographies (mainly of sports personalities, but not only) and American history. Ziv’s Favorite quote: “We're going to pursue perfection, knowing full well we won't catch it, but we're going to relentlessly chase it," Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach.