TALLAHASSEE, Fla.– Florida Education Champions, the newly-established political committee formed to secure placement on the November 2022 ballot to authorize sports and event betting at professional sports venues, pari-mutuel facilities, and statewide via online sports betting platforms, with hundreds of millions of dollars in generated revenue going toward supplementing Florida’s Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, today reported $20 million in its committee coffers. The two $10 million contributions were made by online sports betting platform companies DraftKings and FanDuel.
“Thank you to DraftKings and FanDuel for stepping up to the plate in an incredible way to kick off our amendment process that stands to help all Floridians. Our amendment will direct hundreds of millions of additional dollars toward Florida’s Educational Enhancement Trust Fund and open up the market for online sports betting to competition,” said David Johnson, Chairman, Florida Education Champions.
“We are supporting a petition campaign in Florida seeking to add a question pertaining to sports betting to the Florida statewide ballot in 2022. As part of that effort, DraftKings provided Florida Education Champions with critical funding to ensure that Floridians have the opportunity to vote on a sports betting framework that would provide access to the best sports betting experience while increasing funding for Florida’s public education system,” said Griffin Finan, Vice President-Government Affairs, DraftKings.
“It is our shared goal to have a safe, legal and regulated market for offering online sports betting in the Sunshine State. Once passed by Florida voters in November 2022, this initiative will ensure that the State of Florida shares in the sports wagering revenue that is currently going entirely to the offshore, illegal market,” said Cory Fox, Vice President, Government Affairs, FanDuel.
The finance report, submitted to the Florida Division of Elections prior to the Monday, July 12 midnight deadline, shows everything raised and spent through Wednesday, June 30, 2021. Because legislation passed in 2021 (SB 1890) sought to limit contributions made to political committees seeking ballot amendment approval to $3,000 per entity beginning Thursday, July 1, 2021, the committee sought to comply with existing contribution limits to fund the petition gathering efforts. The Florida Education Champions committee will continue to comply with current law.
About Florida Education Champions
Florida Education Champions is a political committee formed in June 2021 for the purpose of securing petitions in order to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2022 general election ballot. Specifically, this amendment authorizes sports and event betting at professional sports venues, pari-mutuel facilities, and statewide via online sports betting platforms, and if betting revenues are taxed, taxes must supplement the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. For more information and/or to request a petition, please visit www.FloridaEducationChampions.com.
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Contact: Christina Johnson, spokesperson
850.391.5040, christina@on3pr.com