According to John Oliver, sports stadiums look like they’re designed by a “coked-up Willy Wonka” now.
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Noting that newer sport stadiums have become garish pleasure palaces – showing clips of stadiums with plush sky boxes featuring snakeskin-covered seats, swimming pools, and even a Florida stadium featuring a massive fish tank built behind home plate – Oliver pointed out that the stadiums are increasingly being built for billionaires with taxpayer money, resulting in school cutbacks and curtailed social services.
Watch the full segment below. Citing a research study, Oliver states that between 2000-2010, $12 billion were spent on stadiums. Two years ago, Detroit got approval to spend more than $280 million in taxpayer money for a new arena for the Red Wings just six days after the city filed for bankruptcy-even though the Red Wings owner is Mike Ilitch, the founder of the Little Caesar’s pizza chain, who’s worth an estimated $5.1 billion.
“Sports teams are shameless at manipulating fans’ emotions”, Oliver said, pointing to the case of Glendale, Arizona, whose mayor Jerry Weiers allowed himself to be Tased for charity after daring to suggest the city dump its costly hockey team. “It wasn’t OK when Mary-Kate Olsen went through her hobo phase, and it’s not OK now!” screamed Oliver.
Oliver had one question for these exorbitant expenses: Why are tax dollars being used to fund stadiums?
Have fun buying those holographic replay machines someday, Bengals fans.
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“We have to come to our sense and stop signing these deals”, he said.
