NFL to the military: Pay up!

This may be much ado about nothing, but a post last week on NJ.com is reverberating in the halls of Congress. According to NJ.com, some NFL teams, including the New York Jets, are paid for those touching salutes to the military that have become such an important part of sporting events. It’s a great way for teams and fans to show their appreciation for our men and women in uniform, but is it tarnished by the revelation that teams are compensated?

It turns out that teams like the Jets are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to honor a few members of the military per game with a public acknowledgement of their service, plus seats to the game. According to federal contracts obtained by NJ.com, the Department of Defense and the New Jersey Army National Guard paid the Jets a total of $377,000 from 2011 to 2014 for the game time salutes and associated advertising.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) sees this as wasteful spending. Per NJ.com:

“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.”

But the military sees things a bit differently. Patrick Daugherty, a spokesman for the Guard, thinks it’s money well spent:

“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,” Daugherty said.

For their part, the Jets maintain they are active supporters of the military and, in fact, provide monetary support to many military and veteran-related projects. And, to be fair, they are not the only team accepting advertising money from the military; the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are among other NFL franchises that have similar deals.

So, the question is: Is this money well spent, or, as Sen. Flake maintains, something that “leaves a bad taste in your mouth”? Let us know what you think in the comments section!

Image: U.S. Army