The United States military has signed agreements worth $6.8 million with professional sports teams to have patriotic spectacles staged at major events, according to a Senate investigation.
Ceremonial first pitches, luxury box seats and an airport greeting from an athlete for a returning service member are some of the offerings that the investigation unearthed in the military’s marketing contracts with professional sports teams.
Over the past four years, the Army National Guard and other branches of the military have signed agreements with teams from the National Football League, Major League Baseball and other sports leagues that included “paid-for patriotism,” said Republican senators Jeff Flake and John McCain.
The senators have offered an amendment to a military spending bill that would prohibit the use of taxpayer money for military tributes at sporting events. “We appreciate if they honor the men and women in uniform, but not to get paid for it,” Mr McCain said. Fans and troops are led to believe that the presentations are purely motivated by patriotism, he and Mr Flake said.
Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, said in a letter to the senators that the league planned to review all contracts between teams and the military, and that it would refund any inappropriate expenditures.
It is unclear how much of the marketing money was used to pay for ceremonies with names like “Salute to Service” and for other recognitions of the armed forces. But few teams are left out of the 150-page report.
The Wisconsin Army National Guard, for instance, paid the Milwaukee Brewers $49,000 last year to sponsor some renditions of “God Bless America.” The New York Jets received $20,000 to salute two soldiers as “hometown heroes”.
Another big expenditure was tickets. The Air Force paid the Cincinnati Bengals almost $5,000 for 60 club-level tickets, while the Indiana Army National Guard reserved 40 centre-court seats for Pacers games.
“If the most compelling message about military service we can deliver to prospective recruits and influencers is the promise of game tickets, gifts and player appearances, we need to rethink our approach to how we are inspiring qualified men and women to military service,” the senators’ report said.
New York Times