On Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver turned his laser beam of rational criticism on one of the true hypocrisies in the United States today: Publicly-funded professional sports stadiums. Far too often, pro teams shake down the cities in which they play to obtain public money for new or renovated stadiums, often without promising anything substantive in return. As Oliver details, the teams keep basically all their revenue, and give back only the vague promise of urban revitalization, which is a bulls**t promise, considering there’s never been any demonstrated connection between a new sports stadium and increased local business, and no one wants to live right next to a major stadium.
Oliver explains it in a more interesting way, so just watch him tell you: It’s a long segment at 20 minutes, even for John, but you’ll want to stick around ’til the end for his take on an inspirational sports speech, which is actually really damn good.
(Via HBO)
