Monumental Sports and Entertainment CEO and Chairman Ted Leonsis will pay arena workers through at least the end of March while the NBA and NHL seasons are indefinitely suspended.
Leonsis, owner of the Washington Wizards and Capitals, will pay 500 part-time employees for the 16 events that were either canceled or postponed due to concerns about the coronavirus, according to multiple reports. Leonsis announced Thursday that all events at Capital One Arena, where the Wizards and the Capitals play, would be postponed “until further notice.”
Other teams have taken similar actions as the Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks agreed to pay their hourly workers while the NBA season is suspended. NBA stars such as Kevin Love, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zion Williamson announced donations to cover workers’ wages.
Leonsis told The Washington Post the NBA and NHL had to have a “great level of empathy” toward the workers.
He also said part-time employees will be paid again for games that are rescheduled if they work the events.
Ted Leonsis to @PostSports:
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) March 13, 2020
“Over the years, obviously, [part-time arena workers] have grown to count on those dollars and when we made the announcement to stop NHL games, NBA games, all concerts we had to have great levels of empathy for those people.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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