Paid patriotism
Have you ever been to a professional sporting event where a local soldier was honored on the Jumbotron?
Did you feel like this?
Well, guess what? That authentic moment of patriotism and pride was actually a paid advertisement…
A new Senate report says the U.S. Dept. of Defense paid millions between 2012 and 2015 to professional sports teams (including the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS) to make you feel patriotic. While some of the money was used to honor American soldiers, it was also used for all sorts of other things.
(But seriously, these multibillion-dollar sports leagues couldn’t just honor soldiers?)
Here are some highlights:
Broken down by league, here are the top recipients of Uncle Sam’s money:
In all, the military paid sports teams $6.8 million.
The sports teams have issued statements saying their patriotism is sincere, and that they have long histories of supporting all branches of the military with no strings attached.
As for the Pentagon, it says it will no longer pay for these activities.
Hope you feel as patriotic as we do:
Read the full report here! And follow Adrian Arizmendi on Twitter here!
