Recently, many teams have come under fire for the money they receive for the military displays they have during games. The Minnesota Twins revealed that they receive nothing for such displays.
While it is understandable for many to question professional sports teams after the release of the 2015 Department of Defense report on military spending for publicity displays during sporting events, Minnesota Twins president Dave St. Peter assured fans on Twitter on Tuesday that the Twins receive no funds for these displays.
These displays have become a point of controversy recently since that report as teams have received money for Air Force flyovers, family reunions, on field flag displays, and even for mentioning the branches of the service as part of the home announcer’s run down during the game. These actions, assumed to be donated by teams to the military by most previously, were suddenly under scrutiny by fans as a money-making scheme for teams and by government-checkers as a wasteful spending practice by the government, who they feel should not be supplementing sports teams that are making millions of dollars in profits each year (in many cases).
On Tuesday, Minnesota Twins president Dave St. Peter retweeted a Minnesota Twins team Twitter account tweet about the team’s tradition of having a veteran raise the flag every game:
We are proud to have this Flag Raiser tradition at Target Field! https://t.co/vPbAfVKhdC
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 4, 2017
That led to the following exchange:
In the name of transparency, how much US taxpayer $ does the organization receive for these displays? https://t.co/kpnc9CtsU8
— Wayne Spar (@waynespar) July 4, 2017
In the name of transparency, @Twins receive ZERO dollars from our armed services.It's our privilege to honor our vets / active duty soldiers https://t.co/cj7souJJta
— Dave St. Peter (@TwinsPrez) July 4, 2017
While Americans will watch baseball, grill burgers, shoot fireworks, and spend the entire day celebrating their independence today, the special ceremonies that are presented at Target Field today will involve nothing financially contributed by the military in order to make them happen.
It’s tremendous that the Minnesota Twins can not only be a team that put together a team fans can support with facilities that fans can enjoy but also take the time to honor the country in a way that respects those who served!