For decades, it has become a regular occurrence at sporting events to have military jets fly over a stadium at the conclusion of the national anthem. You’ll see it at the Super Bowl. You’ll see it when Texas Tech plays 2-4 Kansas in a random October football game. It’s that common.
And when you get past how this tradition is another instance of the blatant militarization of American sports, it’s really tough to ignore how wasteful flyovers are.
Fox broadcasters Joe Buck and Troy Aikman couldn’t help but mock the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for having a military flyover with four A-10 aircraft ahead of Sunday’s game against the Packers at a mostly empty Raymond James Stadium. Sure, it was a hot-mic video, but good on them for saying what many had been thinking all along.
Even Joe Buck and Troy Aikman find pregame flyovers to be a little much these days: https://t.co/0IZL6GhmZy pic.twitter.com/G4EpB3SYtN
— Defector (@DefectorMedia) October 19, 2020
Gotta love Joe Buck mockingly saying, “That’s your hard-earned money and your tax dollars at work!”
And flyovers really can be needlessly expensive.
