Senate Report Says Pentagon Paid Sports Leagues for Patriotic Events

Over the past four years, the Army National Guard and other branches have signed agreements worth $6.8 million with teams from the National Football League, Major League Baseball and other sports leagues that included “paid-for patriotism,” said Sens Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and John McCain (R-AZ).

It is unclear exactly how much of that marketing money paid for ceremonies with names like “Salute to Service” and other recognition of the armed forces. And the report conceded that $6.8 million was just a sliver of the $53 million the military spent on advertising with sports teams during that time. But standing beside a poster of an old-time football player in a “McCain Flake” jersey sacking Uncle Sam, the senators said that neither the military nor the teams came out looking good — especially when fans are led to believe that the presentations are purely motivated by patriotism, as many are.