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Salutes to the Military During Games

CloakNNNdagger

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Our hats were off to the Texans for holding these elaborate salutes to the military and to particular officers. Now there is breaking new that NFL teams were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the government to allow the presentation of these costly shows.............all the while having fans believe that it was through the great heart of their teams (including the Texans).......while the teams made out like bandits with taxpayer monies.
 
It's worse that the "old news."
  • Posted: 11/04/2015 11:45 AM EST | Edited: 1 hour ago
  • .......................The 145-page report released Wednesday dives deeper, revealing that 72 of the 122 professional sports contracts analyzed contained items deemed “paid patriotism” -- the payment of taxpayer or Defense funds to teams in exchange for tributes like NFL’s “Salute to Service.” Honors paid for by the DOD were found not only in the NFL, but also the NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS. They included on-field color guard ceremonies, performances of the national anthem, and ceremonial first pitches and puck drops.
  • “Given the immense sacrifices made by our service members, it seems more appropriate that any organization with a genuine interest in honoring them, and deriving public credit as a result, should do so at its own expense and not at that of the American taxpayer,” the report states.

    DOD spent $53 million on marketing and advertising contracts with sports teams from 2012 to 2015, the report found, but that also included legitimate ad campaigns such as stadium signs and social media mentions. However, it also included $6.8 million in contracts that contained activities the senators considered "inappropriate" patriotism for profit.

    “Americans deserve the ability to assume that tributes for our men and women in military uniform are genuine displays of national pride, which many are, rather than taxpayer-funded DOD marketing gimmicks,” the report said.

    The NFL’s Atlanta Falcons took more money from DOD than any other professional sports franchise. From 2012 to 2015, the Falcons received $879,000 from the Georgia Army National Guard for assorted promotions. The New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens each received at least $500,000 for similar activities over that span.

    [img data-pin-no-hover="true" itemprop="contentUrl" alt="" src="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset...t_630_noupscale/5639a6751800002a00303c46.jpeg" class="image-component__main-image"> Denis Poroy/Associated Press A soldier races on the field with the American flag as part of the "Salute to Service" pregame activities at the NFL football game between the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders in 2014 in San Diego.
    Overall, 50 teams across the five major professional leagues had contracts with the military, including 18 NFL teams that received more than $5.6 million over the four-year span. Ten MLB teams took nearly $900,000, and eight teams each from the NBA and MLS had similar contracts. Six NHL teams received money, and the Air Force paid more than $1.5 million to NASCAR.

    Collegiate programs also benefited from such contracts. Indiana University and Purdue University received a total of $400,000 from the Indiana Army National Guard in 2014, according to the report. In exchange, the schools provided season football and men’s basketball tickets and a “VIP experience for four” that included an autographed football and on-field passes for the annual IU-Purdue football game. The University of Wisconsin received $170,000 for football and hockey gameday presentations in 2014, the report said..............................
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Well...it's sort of patriotic in that profitable capitalism is the American way... :patriot
 
austins23 said:
I thought there was an article posted on here somewhere about this very topic? Maybe I saw it somewhere else. A lot of teams are getting paid for things like this, is what the article said.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...llion-from-defense-department-in-last-4-years

It doesn't mention the Texans specifically.
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The US Army are one of the Texans "Partners". They have been since I can remember. "Army Strong" once sponsored the in-game tribute to a service member. Now, FMC is the sponsor. It's not like the Texans don't want to honor those who serve. They do. They just prefer to be paid to do so.
 
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