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A sporting event is a mass entertainment event, no different than a movie or a concert.
Do we say the national anthem before a movie? No.
Do we say the national anthem before a concert? No. (maybe a few here and there do it)
So, why do we say the national anthem before a sporting event? All the brouhaha about the national anthem before an NFL game could be avoided just by making an NFL game no different than going to a concert, and not singing the national anthem at all.
Sadly, if some head honchos at the NFL or NBA or MLB suggested such a thing, there would undoubtedly be cries of protest from a certain camp who would accuse those head honchos of being unpatriotic, and yadda yadda. But I don't hear those same people telling everyone we need to say the national anthem before a Taylor Swift concert.
I dont know... I do know the US military pays the NFL and most certainly other sports to show "Patriotic displays during breaks or before or after games"..
I'd never thought about that before, thanks for bringing it up. It's understandable and proper to have the National Anthem before international sports events, but regular sports matches? Does anyone know when the practice first began?
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Bond 007
Do we say the national anthem before a movie? No.
In the UK the national anthem was always played at the end of a movie, as recently as the late 1960s. I can remember my father and I going to see Planet of the Apes at a cinema in Leicester Square, London, and he was the only person who stood to attention when the anthem played. Everyone else exited.
I was thinking about horse races. Haven't been to a horse race in decades, and I don't recall whether or not they had the national anthem before the races started. Anyone been to a horse race recently? After all, that's a sporting event, too.
"The 145-page report cites contributions to 18 NFL teams, 10 MLB teams, eight NBA teams, six NHL teams, eight soccer teams, as well as NASCAR, Iron Dog and Indiana University Purdue University."
Guess where most of the money went.
NASCAR. Shocker, I know.
"NASCAR was the biggest recipient, getting $1,560,000 for fiscal year 2015."
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