Three reasons why ‘Military Appreciation Games’ are a joke

3.  Penn State vs Army

Penn State and the NCAA have an odd way of showing their military appreciation.  This Saturday Penn State will host their annual ‘Military appreciation Day.’  They will display their appreciation on ESPNU by kicking the crap out of the Army’s Black Knights on the football field.

They even invited all interested service members to attend the miserable spanking for free! Don’t expect Penn State or ESPN to be paying for the tickets though.  According to ESPN, Penn State ranks #10 in the NCAA for most athletic revenue, but they have been asking other people to ‘appreciate’ the military by donating money for service member’s tickets.

Feel free to show your appreciation by giving Penn State your money.  They are asking people to buy tickets for service members by calling 1-800-NITTANY (648-8269) through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets for the seats for Service Members program are $35.

2. Major League Baseball’s ‘Welcome Back Veterans’

The MLB’s commitment to veterans, active duty military and military families has really paid off for THEM.  Major League Baseball boasts donating 30 million dollars to ‘Welcome Back Veterans’ since 2008.  According to Forbes, this comes out to a trivial donation of 167,000 dollars per team per year.  The New York Yankees are worth a whopping 2.5 billion dollars and the Tampa Bay Rays, who are ranked the poorest team, are still worth half a billion.

The MLB will continue to feature military homecomings at their games and sell millions of dollars of military ‘support’ memorabilia.  But don’t expect military families or veterans to see any of these profits.

Some teams do offer as much as half-off tickets for veterans on ‘Military Mondays,’ which also happens to be the day no one else wants to watch a game.  Oh yea, and if you live in Baltimore, the Orioles will give you a whole $5 dollars off your ticket!

1. NFL salutes veterans with your tax dollars

The NFL came under scrutiny this year when it was exposed that their ‘appreciation’ of the military was paid for by the U.S. government.  Most NFL fans assumed that the on-the-field salutes to service members was representative of the NFL’s appreciation of our country’s hard working men and women in uniform.

Come to find out, the NFL accepted 5.5 million dollars to parade around combat veterans and unfurl massive U.S. flags during games.  According to NJ.com, the league’s annual “Salute to Service,” last year only netted $412,500 – or about one-third of what the league charged for one luxury box at the New Jersey Super Bowl last year.”

It could be argued that the NFL, which is a $10 billion dollar-a-year corporation, gives back to veterans through their tax payments, but they do not pay any!  Up until this year they have had a non-profit status, which has kept them from paying a single penny in taxes.

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