pay to play

• pay-to-play (noun, especially in attributive use)

From sometime practice of charging a fee for admission to a gambling game.

pay to play (third-person singular simple present pays to play, present participle paying to play, simple past and past participle paid to play)

1. (by extension) To incur a cost to participate in an activity.
   1. (especially US, politics) To make a campaign contribution or illegal payment to avail oneself of business or other opportunities controlled by politicians.
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pay,‎ to,‎ play.

pay to play (uncountable)

1. Any kind of charge to engage in an activity.
   1. (espeically US, politics) Campaign contributions (or outright bribes or graft) required to avail oneself of certain opportunities controlled by politicians, such as uncompetitive government contracts.

• payola

•   pay to play on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “pay to play”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.