The Pentagon paid the LA Galaxy to honor the military

A new report issued by Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona accuses the U.S. Department of Defense of spending 6.8 million dollars in taxpayer funds to stage patriotic events at sporting matches.

Titled "Paid Patriotism: A Joint Oversight Report", the report reveals 50 franchises from the five major American sports leagues were paid to honor the military including the Galaxy, who were listed as one of eight MLS teams receiving money.

Sec. IV., enthusiastically titled "National Soccer League Paid Patriotism and Perks", states the Galaxy organization was compensated $20,000 in 2012 for the following:

• $1,509 for the Galaxy to provide pregame recognition of five high ranking officers of the Air Force and 100 general admission tickets to that game

• $9,054 for the Galaxy to allocate seven minutes for the USAF to perform a pregame, on-field oath of enrollment ceremony for 500 new recruits and provide 600 general admission tickets to that day’s game

• $6,036 for 100 general admission tickets to each of four Galaxy home games

• $3,400 for four sideline season tickets to be used for recruiting purposes

We reached out to the Galaxy, who replied with the following:

"We have no comment. Following our one-off ticket sales partnership with the Air Force we have not had any continued involvement with the Air Force.

We invite a member of the military to attend every home game and provide them with four (4) tickets, a jersey, dinner, goodie bag, and on field recognition for their service. We have never received funds from any outside source for this recognition program."

So the Galaxy's involvement with the Air Force expired years ago, and as it turns out, that annual pre-game ceremony at the StubHub Center is a service the Galaxy pay for out of pocket.