If you thought those military service members being honored at the football games you watch on television was an innocent gesture of gratitude and mutual respect, well, think again.

According to an investigation revealed this week by NJ.com, between 2011 and 2014 the Department of Defense paid the National Football League more than $5 million in taxpayer money to honor veterans at their events.

To be exact, it was almost $5.4 million to 14 teams. Nearly $5.3 million of it was from the National Guard with the rest of the money paid by the Air Force and the Army.

Let’s call them what they were: “paid promotions under federal advertising contracts for the military”. Because that’s exactly what they were.

More from PBS:

Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) called out the spending as an “egregious and unnecessary waste of taxpayer dollars.”

‘Those of us go to sporting events and see them honoring the heroes; you get a good feeling in your heart,” Sen. Flake told NJ.com. “Then to find out they’re doing it because they’re compensated for it, it leaves you underwhelmed. It seems a little unseemly.”

In New Jersey, the Defense Department and the New Jersey Army National Guard paid the New York Jets a total of $377,000 during the four-year period, according to the federal contracts.

The team’s agreement included money for a Hometown Heroes segment to salute soldiers on the stadium’s Jumbotron at the team’s home games and also tickets for the soldiers and their friends in box seats.

The investigation revealed the Atlanta Falcons collected just over a million dollars, the most cash for any team, and the Green Bay Packers received the single largest payment of $400,000.

“They realize the public believes they’re doing it as a public service or a sense of patriotism,” Sen. Flake said. “It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”

The rest of the teams paid by the federal government were the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams.