RSL one of 50 pro sports teams to receive funds from Pentagon for patriotism-themed activities


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SANDY — Real Salt lake was one of eight Major League Soccer teams to receive funds from the Department of Defense, in a $6.8 million exchange that involved 72 contracts with at least 50 professional sports teams providing for salutes, color guards, anthems and other patriotic activities.

The report, which was prepared by Arizona senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, identifies alleged "taxpayer-funded paid patriotism" involving a variety of sports marketing contracts between the Department of Defense and individual teams and leagues since the 2012 fiscal year.

"While many professional sporting teams do include patriotic events as a pure display of national pride, this report highlights far too many instances when that is simply not the case," the senators wrote. "When our offices first discovered this practice, we sought to better understand it from DOD and introduced an amendment to the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to end these taxpayer-funded salutes to the troops."

Added Flake: "To find out the taxpaper is paying for it, it kinda cheapens the whole lot and that's simply not right."

RSL collected $75,000 via a sponsorship with the Utah National Guard, according to RSL chief business officer Andy Carroll, for hosting one military appreciation night and holding pregame and halftime recognition ceremonies for the Utah Army National Guard, a private partner of the Sandy-based MLS club, as well as color guard ceremonies in 2015.

"The Utah National Guard has been a valued partner of ours for a couple of seasons," RSL vice president of broadcasting and communications Trey Fitz-Gerald said. "Their annual series of activations surrounding our 20 Real Salt Lake games each year is a high-profile means of recruitment for them in this extremely active (national guard) territory."


There's a lot of good things that professional sports do to honor the men and women who serve in the military, but these millions of dollars are not acceptable.

–Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona)


Carroll echoed the official RSL communications statement.

"Real Salt Lake is very proud of our marketing partnership and association with the Utah Army National Guard," he said. "The Utah National Guard is one of the premier Guard organizations in the United States. The outstanding leadership team and recruiting officers at the Utah National Guard continually outperform their peers in fulfilling and exceeding their annual recruiting objectives."

The national guard released a statement reaffirming RSL's stance Thursday.

"RSL has been a valued partner supporting advertising efforts to its vast audiences and conducting military appreciation events prior to and after the formal marketing contracts with the Utah National Guard," the statement read, in part. "The 2016 RSL contract is currently being evaluated to ensure compliance and fiscal accountability.

"It is known that the Utah National Guard works diligently to train and equip our members to serve our state and nation, but recruiting is an important underlying requirement to our readiness. Marketing plays an important role in the task of keeping our formations filled with passionate and talented members. It is critical to inform the general public about the mission of the Guard, enlistment opportunities available, and requirements for eligibility for the force to remain at high levels of readiness."

Carroll added RSL's sponsorship met a strict criteria of local leadership and it was approved and funded by the national guard bureau in Washington, D.C.

"We went through the same collaborative process with the National Guard that we do with all of our partners: one that is customized to meet their specific marketing objectives and metrics and which delivers return on their investment," he said. "We are honored to be deemed worthy partners in helping the Utah National Guard maintain its high levels of visibility and readiness."

RSL received the third-most funds in Major League Soccer over the course of the report. Seattle Sounders FC collected $128,000 over three years for recognition that included an Army National Guard public service message played on video boards at 19 Seattle home games.

The Colorado Rapids brought in $100,000 in 2014 for three color guard ceremonies and a cannon fire ceremony. In addition to RSL, Seattle and Colorado, D.C. United, FC Dallas, L.A. Galaxy, Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew SC received funds from the Department of Defense for various contracts that totaled $396,500.

As a result of the report, the Department of Defense has banned what it calls "paid patriotism" and the NFL has called on its teams to not accept further payments for patriotic salutes.

"There's a lot of good things that professional sports do to honor the men and women who serve in the military," McCain said, "but these millions of dollars are not acceptable."

The report found the department spent $10.4 million on marketing and advertising contracts with teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS between 2012 and 2015. The report alleges "paid patriotism" occurred in the form of on-field color guards, enlistment and re-enlistment ceremonies, national anthem performances, full-field flag details, ceremonial first pitches and puck drops and "hometown hero" and "wounded warrior" tributes.

The NFL's Atlanta Falcons was among the heaviest recipients of such payments, pulling in $879,000 over the course of the report for military appreciation nights, anthem performances, recognition of the Army National Guard's anniversary celebration, and other events.

Read the 150-page Senate report here.

Contributing: Mike Headrick, Mike Anderson

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