Paid Patriotism
Pro sports teams charge military to appear at sporting events
The honoring of America appears at all sporting events. From high school to the professionals, the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” appears before every match.
In the big leagues, the military may make some special appearances, consisting of about 80 U.S. military members unravelling a giant American flag that covers up the whole field.
So the professional sports teams that get these military members to honor America should be grateful right? Wrong.
Recently it was revealed professional sporting teams are actually charging the Pentagon for these appearances.
But how bad is it? The pentagon has had to pay $6 million to sports teams for these appearances. But it doesn’t end here, these charges end up going to U.S. taxpayers.
Yes, we are paying for the military to go to sporting events, while the sporting leagues make billions of dollars every year.
How is it fair for multi-billion dollar enterprises to charge Americans for the military to honor America?
It’s simple: it’s not.
Today’s professional sports leagues can afford to pay $6 million for the military to appear at their sporting events. Now they are just being greedy.
Also, the military gives so much for everyone in the country. They give more than any sporting event can, and that is something they should be commended for — not charged.
Professional sports need to rethink their priorities and see that there is more to what they do than making a profit.
After all, November is the “salute to service” month in the NFL, but the military probably had to pay for their much-deserved month of recognition also.
The whole concept of charging the military to appear to honor the country is bogus. If anything, professional sports should be paying the military for everything they do for our country. But we all know that is never going to happen.
Kyle Elmendorf is a senior staff writer for “The Tiger Print.” He primarily enjoys writing about sports and occasionally takes pictures. Inside of...