Warriors Donate $1 Million for Sidelined Arena Workers; Sharks to Pay Tank Part-Timers
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The Golden State Warriors' ownership, players and coaches have pledged to donate $1 million to provide assistance to employees who work games at Chase Center.
"As players, we wanted to do something, along with our ownership and coaches, to help ease the pain during this time," star guard Stephen Curry said in a press release.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob added, "Our players, coaches, ownership and management have been focused on creating a way to assist our part-time employees. We are addressing the potential hardships these hard-working individuals may encounter during this hiatus in the NBA season. While everyone and every business is impacted, those who are fortunate enough to be in a position to help, need to help."
Other teams, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, have made commitments to workers at not just NBA events but also the building's minor-league hockey games. The Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks were among the earliest NBA franchises to reveal they're working on how they'll take care of arena staffs. So have the NHL's Washington Capitals, among others, and the ownership group for Detroit's Pistons, Red Wings and Tigers on Friday said they were setting up a $1 million fund "to cover one month's wages for our part-time staff for games, concerts and events that they would have otherwise worked."
Thousands of workers would have staffed the 450 NBA and NHL games that will not be played over the next month in response to the pandemic. And then there are the more than 300 spring training and regular-season baseball games, 130 NCAA Division I men's and women's tournament games, 50 or so Major League Soccer matches, all international golf and tennis tournaments, and who-knows-how-many high school, small college and other entertainment events canceled or postponed because of the global health crisis.
The total economic impact of the loss of sports and other events because of the pandemic — assuming only a month shutdown — is impossible to calculate but will reach the billions, easily.
The San Jose Sharks said part-time arena workers would get paid for all games not played and Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said he was giving $100,000 to workers in that club's arena -- a donation matched by his teammates and followed by another pledge from the team's ownership group.
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