A U.S. senator wants the Department of Defense and National Guard to explain their “troubling” marketing and promotional relationship with professional baseball, football, hockey and basketball teams, after a news report detailed payments made by the military in exchange for patriotic tributes at live events.
In a letter sent Monday to the Secretary of Defense and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., asked the Department of Defense to supply the total amount it has paid professional leagues and franchises since fiscal year 2009 to present promotional material and the “complete details on the number of paid salutes for honoring members of the Armed Services (and) the amount spend on such salutes.”
“While it may be appropriate for the National Guard or other service branches to spend taxpayer funds on activities directly related to recruiting” Flake wrote, “giving taxpayer funds to professional sports teams for activities that are portrayed to the public as paying homage to U.S. military personnel would seem inappropriate.
“Such promotions conjure up feelings of patriotism and pride for most sports fans, and the revelation that these are in fact paid arrangements is disappointing.”
The request was made in response to an article published Monday on nj.com that detailed the financial relationship between the New Jersey Army National Guard and the New York Jets. According to the report, the Jersey Guard and Department of Defense paid the franchise a total of $377,000 from 2011-14 for in-game salutes to members of the military and other military-themed advertising, according to federal contracts.
Black Hawk helicopters from the New Jersey Air National Guard perform a flyover while soldiers, Marines, sailors, Coast Guardsmen, and airmen display a U.S.-shaped American flag across the field during pre-game ceremonies for the NFL’s season opening game Sept. 5, 2012, between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium.
Photo Credit: Joe Manley/Army
During the 2012 and 2013 NFL seasons, for example, the New Jersey Army National Guard paid the franchise between $97,000 and $115,000 for a wide range of advertising and promotion, including a video-board feature recognizing “hometown heroes” and 500,000 digital banner impressions inside MetLife Stadium.
Several NFL franchises are involved in relationships with the military. The National Guard will devote $1,266,000 to NFL advertising during the 2015 fiscal year, according to spokesman Maj. Earl Brown, spending $225,000 to advertise and market with the New England Patriots and another $200,000 with the Indianapolis Colts.
“The intent of these advertising partnerships is to promote the (National Guard) brand within the thousands of communities in which we serve that results in increased awareness of opportunities the (National Guard) has to offer,” said Brown, adding that such arrangements serve to “promote opportunities the (National Guard) has to offer in terms of young men and women serving their communities.”
The National Guard will spend another $2,845,634 for advertising across a gamut of non-NFL sports, including college programs such as University of Alabama ($22,000) and the University of Connecticut ($99,000); the Atlanta Braves ($150,000); NASCAR’s Kansas Speedway ($200,000) and the NHL’s Boston Bruins ($130,000).
Yet budgetary and resource limitations have already led the National Guard to scale back on its promotional relationships with members of the NCAA, MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA. According to Brown, the reserve force has decreased sports-marketing spending by nearly 70 percent during the past two fiscal years.
“The (Army National Guard) is not in the business of sports ‘sponsorships’ any longer,” Brown said. “Rather, we now maintain advertising partnerships in order to increase awareness and consideration of service, along with generating qualified leads for local recruiters to engage with.”
