Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis will pay workers at Capital One Arena affected by the NHL and NBA hiatuses due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to Candace Buckner or the Washington Post.
Both the NBA and NHL suspended their regular seasons in the wake of Utah Jazz players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell contracting the COVID-19 virus.
While players and coaches are expected to be paid throughout the hiatuses, the most affected group is the part-time arena workers throughout both leagues.
NBA players such as Kevin Love and Zion Williamson have vowed to help pay those arena workers affected in their respected cities. However, Leonsis owned Monumental Sports and Entertainment is joining NBA’s Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in footing the bill.
The Wizards and Capitals share Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, DC.
Capital One Arena part-time workers will be paid as normal as if the event occurred. Additionally, if and when the league’s resume, those workers will be paid again for working those events.
Leonsis stated to the Washington Post:
“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.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league will be on hiatus for at least 30 days following Thursday’s suspension of play. Both leagues will try to wait out the pandemic from the coronavirus and resume play to finish their respective seasons.
The Capital One Arena workers have the assurance they will be paid while being out of work due to the outbreak.
