The Falcons no longer will accept payment from military branches for advertising or any other deals, team owner Arthur Blank said.
Blank is taking that position after his team and many pro sports franchises drew sharp criticism from Congress and others last year for their marketing contracts with the military, some of which included paid tributes to troops at games.
“We’ll do whatever we can to help in recruiting for all branches of the Armed Services,” Blank said this week. “But we’re not going to bill anybody for anything.”
The NFL last year directed its teams that they shouldn’t receive payment from the military for “any on-field recognition, community events or other activities that are not specifically in the form of recruitment or advertising.” Congress also acted late last year to stop the Defense Department from paying teams for on-field tributes and the like.
The crackdowns don’t ban advertising, such as on video boards and in game programs, or other marketing activation at stadiums for recruitment purposes. But Blank said the Falcons will steer clear of compensation for even permitted deals in the future.
“We don’t even want to be in that discussion,” Blank said. “We don’t want any confusion about it. … We’re not going to accept any more monies under any contracts.”
In lieu of paid advertising, the Falcons said they have started work on a program to continue to assist military service branches with recruitment through unpaid advertising and community relations and outreach activities.
“We want to be absolutely clear about our unconditional support for all Armed Services and the National Guard,” Blank said.
A U.S. Senate report released in November on sports deals, titled “Tackling Paid Patriotism,” said the Falcons accepted $879,000 over a four-year period from contracts that included military tributes.
The report cited many examples of how the Defense Department used taxpayer money to buy events at major sporting venues across the country. Among the examples cited involving the Falcons and the Georgia National Guard: an opportunity for 80 soldiers to hold a large American flag on the field at the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons said the payments they received in recent years were for advertising and recruitment activities and that no dollars were attached to tributes.
The NFL late last year said it would audit “all contracts between our clubs and the military service branches or state National Guard units” and pay back money determined to be for activities beyond advertising and recruitment. Blank said this week he expects the audit to be completed soon.
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