I had never considered that the DoD might pay for playing the national anthem at NFL games (playing the anthem is a staple of high school games, and I know my s

I had never considered that the DoD might pay for playing the national anthem at NFL games (playing the anthem is a staple of high school games, and I know my school didn't get any DoD funding), and after a quick search it appears that what they pay for is things like flyovers, having service members hold out a large flag on the field, buying them tickets to the game afterward (where they can be seen in uniform in the stands), etc. It's marketing. And the number bandied about in the first few links was something like $5.5 million over three years. Not a huge amount of money.