NFL Reportedly Agrees to Pay Back Taxpayers for Acts of Sponsored Patriotism

The NFL reportedly agreed to reimburse taxpayers Thursday after news broke last year that taxpayer money was funding acts of sponsored patriotism at professional sporting events. 

According to ESPN's Darren Rovell, the NFL will pay back $723,734 used for events such as flag ceremonies and welcome-back tributes for those in the military.

Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain (h/t Laura Barron-Lopez and Travis Waldron of the Huffington Post) revealed in November that the Department of Defense paid as much as $6.8 million in taxpayer money to fund United States military recognition at NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS games.

McCain reacted to the news:

Rovell noted that the NFL is the only league to pay back contributions thus far:

According to Rovell, Flake is pleased with the NFL's decision:

"

In all the years I've spent rooting out egregious federal spending, the NFL is the first organization to perform due diligence, take responsibility and return misspent funds to the taxpayers. The NFL's response to this investigation sets a new standard and only strengthens its reputation as a supporter [of] our nation's military service members and veterans.

"

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also pledged to prevent similar instances of taxpayer funding in the future.

The NFL made $12 billion in 2014, per CNN.com's Jackie Wattles, which means the amount it agreed to pay back is merely a drop in the bucket.

Accepting taxpayer money was an extremely bad look for the league because of how prosperous it is, though, and reimbursing it provides some positive public relations in comparison to the other leagues that have yet to make a move.

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