The NFL is finally stepping up and paying the piper after the public became aware of a little-known scandal surrounding the league in previous seasons.
It was reported last year that the NFL charged the United States Military for taking part in acts of patriotism during and prior to games in the three seasons leading up to the 2015 campaign.
Facing a ton of pressure from the government and fans alike, the league has decided to pay taxpayers back with a grand total of over $700,000.
BREAKING: The NFL has agreed to pay back taxpayers $723,734 for acts of sponsored patriotism (paid flag ceremonies, welcome back tributes)
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 19, 2016
This pales in comparison to the amount of money the Department of Defense (DOD) apparently paid out to NFL teams for “sponsored patriotism” over multiple seasons.
In putting the league and its teams on blast, former GOP Republican candidate and current Arizona Senator John McCain indicated that the DOD had paid out nearly $7 million for the ceremonies in the past.
McCain’s comments came a year ago, as he joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers to call the league out publicly for charging a sum for what should have been respect that’s due to the U.S. Military.
It remains to be seen whether lawmakers will be happy with the $700,000 payout, but something tells us that’s not going to be the case here.
A multi billion-dollar industry, the NFL paying out less than $1 million to taxpayers after receiving nearly $7 million for paid patriotism seems to be nothing more than the suits in New York City attempting to provide hush money.
It likely won’t work.