Last week John Oliver, the host of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” on HBO, did a 19-minute segment on the topic of the funding of American sports stadiums using taxpayer dollars, often at the expense of governments being able to then provide core services to residents.
(WARNING: there is some adult language in the clip)
John Oliver articulated many of the reasons I’m opposed to the idea of taxpayer dollars being diverted to help billionaire owners of profitable sports teams build fancy new stadiums, but key among my reasons for being opposed is the fact that stadium deals don’t produce the economic results they’re often predicted to provide, leaving governments to foot the bill.
It’s time for elected officials to stop allowing themselves to be bullied by the billionaire owners of sports teams and their threats of moving, and it’s time for citizens to start caring about the fact that tax dollars that could be better spent providing services are being squandered on sports teams that many of those same citizens can’t even afford to go watch.