Texans & Football Fans Rage At Ken Paxton Pocketing $275K From Texas Tech Chair In Alleged Pay To Play

NYT’s The Athletic: “Texas Tech booster donated $274K one day before Texas AG Ken Paxton’s Brendan Sorsby letter”

USA Today: “Cody Campbell donated to Ken Paxton. Soon after, the Texas AG threatened Big 12”

Heartland College Sports: “Texas Tech Booster’s Donation to Ken Paxton Under Spotlight Amid Brendan Sorsby Controversy”

NY Post: “Texas Tech booster donated to Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign before AG’s $200M Brendan Sorsby warning to Big 12”

AUSTIN, TX — Texans and college football fans erupted yesterday after news broke in the Texas Tribune that corrupt Ken Paxton pocketed $275K from Texas Tech Chair Cody Campbell, then the very next day threatened controversial legal action against the Big 12 if they sanctioned Tech over their QB who had been illegally betting on his games. 

From ESPN radio to college football podcasts, Paxton was ripped with commentators saying how this made Texas Tech look bad and fans angry saying it undermined the spirit of the game. The Athletic quoted a sports attorney describing Paxton’s actions as “a misstep of epic proportions” and even Barstool weighed in asking if the suspiciously-timed action was a bribe, of which Paxton has a long history of being accused of taking. 

Read for yourself:

NY Post: Texas Tech booster donated to Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign before AG’s $200M Brendan Sorsby warning to Big 12

July 16, 2026

By Justin Tasch

• A day before Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned the Big 12 in a letter that sanctioning Texas Tech for having quarterback Brendan Sorsby on their football team could expose the conference to at least $200 million in damages and fees, the school’s top booster donated to Paxton’s Senate campaign.

• Cody Campbell, a former standout Red Raiders offensive lineman who had a brief NFL career before becoming an oil tycoon and is the current Texas Tech Board of Regents chairman, donated $274,300 to the fundraising committee Paxton Victory on June 10, according to FEC records, as first noted by the Texas Tribune.

• Paxton’s letter was sent on June 11.

• The NCAA ruled Sorsby ineligible in May after he admitted to placing thousand of online bets, violating NCAA rules. At least 40 of his wagers involved Indiana football while he was a member of the team, though he did not play in the games he wagered on.

• Sorsby, 22, sued and was granted a temporary injunction by a Texas judge on June 8 that restored his eligibility, which included a two-game suspension.

• The Big 12 then filed a federal lawsuit against Paxton, Texas Tech and school officials on June 14 seeking “a declaratory judgment that the First Amendment protects the Conference’s right to invoke its authority under its Bylaws to sanction” the school.

• Sorsby then withdrew his lawsuit and declared for the NFL supplemental draft. However, the league chose not to hold a supplemental draft, and he now must wait to enter the 2027 NFL Draft.

• Campbell declined comment to the Texas Tribune, which said Paxton’s campaign and Texas Tech didn’t responds to requests for comment.

• Paxton, the Republican nominee for the Texas U.S. Senate seat, will face Democratic nominee James Talarico in a November election.

The Athletic: Texas Tech booster donated $274K one day before Texas AG Ken Paxton’s Brendan Sorsby letter

July 16, 2026 

By Justin Williams

• One day before the office of Texas attorney general Ken Paxton released a letter threatening legal action against the Big 12 conference if it moved to sanction Texas Tech over quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility saga, Texas Tech board of regents chair and billionaire booster Cody Campbell donated $274,300 in support of Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign.

• According to a recent batch of campaign finance records filed to the Federal Election Committee, Campbell made the donation on June 10 to Paxton Victory, a joint fundraising committee for Paxton’s ongoing run for Senate as the Texas Republican nominee. On June 11, Paxton’s attorney general office sent a formal letter to the Big 12 Conference on behalf of Texas Tech University stating any penalties imposed by the Big 12 regarding Sorsby would be considered “unlawful” and met with legal action.

• Campbell declined to comment on the matter. The Texas attorney general office and Paxton’s Senate campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Texas Tech did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Campbell made prior donations to Paxton’s Senate campaign dating back to 2025 and to Paxton in his capacity as attorney general. The June 10 donation to Paxton’s Senate campaign represents Campbell’s largest one-time amount given toward a state-level politician dating back to 2016, according to campaign finance databases.

• The June 11 letter from Paxton’s state office came days after Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction by a Texas state court that briefly reinstated his athletic eligibility for the 2026 college football season. The injunction overruled the NCAA, which deemed Sorsby permanently ineligible this spring for committing thousands of gambling violations during his college career, including betting on his own team as a member of Indiana in 2022.

• The court’s decision was met with immediate and intense backlash across college sports, with much of the ire directed at Texas Tech. Many urged the Big 12, of which Texas Tech is a member, to levy its own sanctions against Sorsby and/or Tech if it elected to play the quarterback this upcoming season.

• Texas Tech was not involved in Sorsby’s lawsuit against the NCAA that was granted a temporary injunction, but Tech officials, including Campbell, were publicly supportive of Sorsby’s eligibility battle.

• On June 15, the Big 12 filed a federal lawsuit against Paxton, Texas Tech, and university administrators, seeking a declaratory judgment that the conference could sanction Texas Tech under its league bylaws, and that those bylaws were protected by the First Amendment — a direct response to Paxton’s letter.

• Later that same day, it was announced that Sorsby was leaving the Red Raiders to focus on the NFL.

• The timing and nature of the Big 12’s lawsuit against Paxton and Texas Tech contributed to the end of Sorsby’s college football career, according to previous reporting by The Athletic.  Numerous legal experts argued that Paxton’s letter bolstered the Big 12’s argument on First Amendment grounds, allowing the league to file in federal jurisdiction as opposed to another Texas state court.

• “(The Paxton letter) was a misstep of epic proportions to say the least because without that letter, there’s no (Big 12) lawsuit,” sports attorney Tom Mars told The Athletic.

• The Big 12’s lawsuit remains active and ongoing. Paxton was elected as Texas attorney general in 2014 and is running against Democratic nominee James Talarico for the Senate seat. A Democrat has not won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, but recent polling suggests a tight race between Paxton and Talarico ahead of a Nov. 3 vote.

USA Today: Cody Campbell donated to Ken Paxton. Soon after, the Texas AG threatened Big 12

July 16, 2026

By Zac Al-Khateeb

• One day before he threatened legal action against the Big 12 Conference over potential sanctions against Texas Tech, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was recorded to have received a notable political donation from Cody Campbell.

• According to a report from The Texas Tribune, Campbell — the chairman of the Texas Tech University Board of Regents who contributed $25 million to Texas Tech's 2025 football roster — was recorded providing $274,300 donation on June 10 to one of Paxton's fundraising committees for his U.S. Senate bid, according to campaign finance records.

• One day later, Paxton issued a public statement threatening to sue the Big 12 if the conference sanctioned Texas Tech for playing quarterback Brendan Sorsby after a Lubbock County judge granted an injunction allowing the Cincinnati transfer to play, despite violating NCAA gambling rules.

• The ruling, which came with a two-game suspension, caused a firestorm in college athletics: Sorsby was found to have violated NCAA rules prohibiting gambling, and admitted to making thousands of wagers, some of which involved his prior team, Indiana, while he was on the Hoosiers' roster.

• "The Conference would face exposure to treble damages," Texas state attorneys wrote, "including for Texas Tech's lost football revenues, damages to its alumni contributions and damages to its recruitment, plus attorneys' fees. The total exposure — for both the Big 12 and its members, joint and severally — will be substantially more than $200 million."

• Per The Texas Tribune, Campbell's donation to Paxton was among the largest he had made in recent years after previously making political donations for the GOP candidate. He reportedly donated $30,000 to Paxton's state-level campaigns "from 2016 onward," including donations to both Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt in this year's Republican U.S. Senate primary.

• After Paxton's threat, The Big 12 quickly filed a complaint in federal court, seeking a declaratory judgment that would allow the conference to enforce its own bylaws. Attorneys general from Kansas and Utah joined with Oklahoma in support of the Big 12.

• Eventually, Sorsby decided to withdraw from Texas Tech, nullifying the injunction, as he prepared to enter the NFL supplemental draft. Campbell, issuing a statement on Sorsby's withdrawal, maintained Texas Tech was helping Sorsby as he underwent gambling addiction therapy, which was the result of a broken system in need of serious overhaul.

Houston Chronicle: Texas Tech donors gave big to Ken Paxton as he defended ex-QB Brendan Sorsby

July 16, 2026

By Casey Murray

• Attorney General Ken Paxton received more than $650,000 dollars in campaign contributions from donors tied to Texas Tech the same month he used his office to defend the school’s star quarterback Brendan Sorsby amid a betting scandal, according to new campaign finance records. 

• Quarterback Brendan Sorsby was barred from playing in the NCAA earlier this year after being accused of placing at least $90,000 in impermissible bets, including on his own team. The saga has ignited college sports and produced at least four major lawsuits over the NCAA’s decision. 

• On June 11, Paxton sent a letter to the Big 12 Conference threatening to pursue up to $200 million in legal damages if it followed through with sanctions on Texas Tech for playing Sorsby. 

• One day earlier, Texas Tech Board of Regents Chair Cody Campbell donated $274,300 to a fundraising committee supporting Paxton in his U.S. Senate bid. 

• On June 12, a Texas Tech alumnus named Larry Franklin gave Paxton’s committee $108,600. And later that month, on June 26, Campbell’s business partner, John Sellers, made a donation of $274,300. Sellers and Campbell played football together at Tech, according to a profile of their company.

• The donations, which totalled $657,200, were among the largest in Paxton’s latest fundraising haul, according to campaign finance report data published Wednesday. 

• Neither Texas Tech, Campbell, nor Sellers immediately responded to a request for comment. Franklin could not immediately be reached for comment. Paxton did not respond to a request for comment on whether the donations and the letter were connected.

• Campbell has supported Paxton in the past, but with much smaller donations, totaling about $30,000. 

• Sellers had never donated to Paxton before.

• All three men are donors to the university. The football team’s field was named in honor of Campbell, following a $25 million gift. Sellers gave $1 million to start a scholarship fund at the economics department. Franklin started a journalism scholarship at the school. 

• Paxton was investigated in 2020 based on allegations that he took bribes to benefit a political donor. 

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