Why March Madness Isn't That Great--According to John Oliver

March Madness starts this week, and a lot of people are pretty excited. And, why wouldn't you be? Well, comedian John Oliver has a few reasons. The host of HBO's Last Week Tonight examined darker side to the tradition that often gets buried under the beer-fueled hype while tail gating in a parking lot. On Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight , the comedian decided to take March Madness to task for the admittedly totally unfair amounts of money it makes. . As he pointed out, the tradition brings in over $1 billion in ad revenue annually, which is even more than the Super Bowl. In fact, almost every aspect of every basketball game is sponsored, from the halftime show to moments of the game to the ladder players use to cut down the net after the game. As Oliver points out, there's nothing inherently wrong with a sports tournament making a lot of money. In fact, as viewers/ticket purchasers/bracket contest organizers, we've all become participants in the spectacle. But, the athletes at the center of all this attention will never see a penny of those outrageous profits. While the issue of whether student athletes should be classified as amateurs or as employees who get paid is a major controversy that the NCAA is dealing with, it's kind of hard to feel good about the whole spectacle when Oliver lays it out the way he does.