Travis Kelce (Getty Images)
Earlier this year, Travis Kelce earned recognition for his work off the field when the Kansas City Chiefs named him their club winner for the 2025 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. But the tight end’s charitable efforts soon faced difficult questions.
An investigation by The Arizona Republic examined the finances of his Eighty-Seven and Running Foundation, raising concerns about how much money reached charitable programmes and how the organisation handled its expenses. The findings have put the foundation’s financial reporting and governance under scrutiny, even as Kelce weighs important decisions about his NFL future.
Travis Kelce’s charity foundation faces questions over spending
Federal tax records reviewed by The Arizona Republic showed that Eighty-Seven and Running reported spending just 41 cents of every dollar on charitable activities between 2021 and 2024.
The investigation also found that the foundation paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to A&A Management Group, a company co-founded by Kelce’s longtime business managers, Aaron and Andre Eanes.The report raised further concerns about the foundation’s structure. According to the investigation, the organisation had no officially listed president, secretary or treasurer and operated with only two board members.
That fell short of the three-member minimum cited in the report as necessary for proper oversight.Laurie Styron, executive director of CharityWatch, reviewed the foundation’s tax filings for The Arizona Republic and questioned the relationship between the nonprofit and the management company.“It appears to function more as an extension of the management company versus as an independent public charity,” Styron said.
“That’s not how charities work. It’s wrong.”The figures also suggested that only 56 cents of every dollar spent had gone towards charity since the foundation began operating. Those findings have drawn attention to the distinction between the money a nonprofit raises, its operating expenses and the funds it directs towards its charitable mission.However, the reported figures do not, on their own, establish that funds were misused.
The foundation’s representatives have disputed the suggestion that the records accurately reflect its charitable work.
Travis Kelce’s representatives respond to the financial concerns
Aaron Eanes attributed the reported spending figures to errors in the foundation’s tax filings. He said expenses connected to charitable programmes had been incorrectly classified as management costs rather than properly allocated to programme services.Eanes told The Arizona Republic that the records therefore did not provide an accurate “indication of where the resources were truly directed,” he claimed.He also pointed to changes in the foundation’s financial reporting, saying, “We have since corrected this: Management fees decreased significantly in 2024 and dropped to zero in 2025.”Eanes added that the organisation planned to strengthen its oversight and improve transparency.
“Looking ahead, we are expanding our board of directors, bringing on advisers with nonprofit expertise, and restructuring our reporting processes to better reflect our actual program work.
We are dedicated to ensuring this foundation operates at the highest standards,” he added.The planned changes could help address concerns about accountability, but the foundation’s financial reporting remains central to the debate. For Kelce, whose public profile extends well beyond football, the issue places renewed attention on the organisation’s community work and the standards expected of a high-profile charitable foundation.