In 2017, after the latest NFL-anthem kerfuffle, my view was that the anthem has no place in a workplace. Your business doesn’t play it before the start of a workday. Mine doesn’t either. The NBA, NFL and NHL are workplaces to the athletes and other personnel who comprise the structure of those leagues. Yet the anthem is something else entirely, an overt expression of national pride and fidelity. My view on its appropriateness hasn’t changed in the years since.
The NFL and other professional sports are in the middle of a firestorm of patriotism because of player actions during the playing of the national anthem.