S2 E20: Stadiums, Iran & the Confederate Flag: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Nuclear Deal

• Iran may be close to reaching a historic nuclear deal after a year and a half of negotiations.

Greece's Financial Crisis

• Greece is in desperate need of another bailout and may be forced to abandon the Euro altogether, leading to a potential "Grexit."

Confederate Symbols

• The Confederate Battle Flag was removed from the South Carolina State House grounds after 54 years, but other racist symbols remain in government institutions.

Whoopi Goldberg's Controversial Statements

• Whoopi Goldberg defended several controversial figures and made questionable statements, including defending Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski, Ray Rice, and Jesse James.

Sports Stadiums in America

• The main story focuses on the increasingly extravagant sports stadiums in America, particularly the Dallas Cowboys' stadium, which features art, party suites, cabanas, and swimming pools suspended above the field.
• New stadiums are expensive and mostly built with public money.
• Teams get to keep almost all the revenue from these stadiums.
• Teams often threaten to leave cities unless they get new stadiums.
• Teams promise that new stadiums will revitalize their surrounding areas, but there is no evidence to support this.
• Using public money to pay for stadiums can lead to cuts in other important public services.
• Taxpayers are responsible for paying for future stadium amenities, including holographic replay machines, that may not even exist yet.
• Teams often include unusual demands in stadium deals, such as helipads, submarine docks, and even a monkey named Professor Bananas.
• Politicians often capitulate to teams' demands due to civic pride and the fear of losing a team.
• Glendale, Arizona's mayor faced backlash for trying to get out of an unfavorable stadium deal with the Coyotes, leading to a public hearing where she was heckled and eventually tased by fans.

Irrational Behavior in Sports

• Sports can make people behave irrationally, as evidenced by a tattoo of Tim Tebow as a centaur.

Fighting Back Against Unfair Stadium Deals

• The author encourages American sports fans to fight back against unfair stadium deals by saying "no" to unreasonable demands and not using public money to fund private stadiums.
• Cities should recognize their own value beyond the sports teams that play there and not be afraid to stand up to team owners.