USA. Meadowlands, NJ. 2018. November is Salute to Service month in the National Football League. Since 2011, the NFL has donated over $34 million to charities that support in- jured American servicemen. Also since 2011, the NFL has earned approxi- mately $94 billion, which means the amount distributed in support of the military is approximately .03% of the NFL’s total revenues. Salute to Service stemmed from an initia- tive by the Pentagon to boost waning recruitment for the unpopular wars, and since 2009, the Pentagon has given at least $12.2 million to the NFL for propaganda. Senator John McCain conducted an investigation into the practice and released this statement with a detailed report of his findings: “Americans across the country should be deeply disappointed that many of the ceremonies honoring troops at professional sporting events are not actually being conducted out of a sense of patriotism, but for profit in the form of millions in taxpayer dollars going from the Department of Defense to wealthy pro sports franchises. Fans should have confidence that their hometown heroes are being honored because of their honorable military service, not as a marketing ploy.”
Interestingly, one of the biggest controversies in the past few years has been NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to support civil rights for minorities, but players didn’t even appear on the field for the anthem until 2009, when the Pentagon started pressuring the NFL for displays of patriotism.