When NFL teams honor members of the military at games, most fans probably assume that it’s the league’s way of giving back. In reality, in some cases it was the league’s way of making some money. But the practice of the NFL taking taxpayer dollars for patriotic displays will apparently come to an end.
Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake released a report today on the millions of dollars that the Department of Defense has spent on sponsoring events at NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS games. That report said that the NFL has now called on all teams to stop accepting payment for patriotic salutes.
The senators’ report found that taxpayer money was used for $53 million in spending on marketing and advertising contracts with sports teams, according to NBC News. McCain also accused the Department of Defense of dragging its feet when the senators asked for more information about how much taxpayer money was being spent at sporting events.
That doesn’t speak well for the Department of Defense, nor does it speak well for America’s sports leagues that they were all complicit in this waste of taxpayer dollars. But now it’s coming to an end.