Note: The Giants were one of the teams that did not get paid for this patriotic display.
If you've been to an NFL games in recent years, you've likely seen on-field tributes to veterans and the military. Military members waving from box seats, somber and heartfelt videos on the jumbo screens, on-field recognition and tributes. Turns out, most of them
came at a cost:
The Department of Defense and the Jersey Guard paid the Jets a total of $377,000 from 2011 to 2014 for the salutes and other advertising, according to federal contracts. Overall, the Defense Department has paid 14 NFL teams $5.4 million during that time, of which $5.3 million was paid by the National Guard to 11 teams under similar contracts.
The National Guard justifies it as
advertising:
"Promoting and increasing the public's understanding and appreciation of military service in the New Jersey Army National Guard increases the propensity for service in our ranks and garners public support for our Hometown Team," Guard spokesman Patrick Daugherty said.
Spending $5.4 million to honor our troops during NFL games is so egregious that
even Republicans who normally rubber stamp every military expense are outraged:
U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who routinely posts examples of what he calls wasteful spending, called out the Jets' agreement as wasteful and disingenuous.
"Those of us go to sporting events and see them honoring the heroes," Flake said in an interview. "You get a good feeling in your heart. Then to find out they're doing it because they're compensated for it, it leaves you underwhelmed. It seems a little unseemly."
The U.S. military spending money to advertise and recruit at sporting events is not unusual and not inappropriate. It's one thing to put an inflatable obstacle course in the stadium parking lot and encourage young attendees to complete the course, pass out t-shirts, bumper stickers and other tchotchkes to get young people thinking about serving their country and/or life in the military. But, it is something else entire to disguise these advertisements as heartfelt veteran tributes and ceremonies, all at a huge cost to taxpayers. The NFL teams ought to put profit aside and rethink these deals. Going a step further, they really ought to consider giving this $5.4 million back to veterans. There are
21.2 million veterans in the United States, 3.6 million with service-related injuries. With a massive backlog of cases at the VA hospitals, shame on the Dept. of Defense and the NFL for wasting tax dollars.