Caps owner Ted Leonsis pays salaries for employees through April

Finally an NHL owner stepping up to do the right thing.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Caps owner Ted Leonsis pays salaries for employees through April
Zuma Press

Most of the news coming out of the NHL this past week has been… well we’ll call it disappointing. 

Yesterday afternoon Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs laid off over 2,000 employees without pay, despite having a net worth of nearly $4 billion. Paying out his employees for the balance of the 2019-20 season would have cost him 0.02 of his net worth… yet he kicks them out on the streets.

Not to be outdone, Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon laid off his staff with just two days notice, informing employees just yesterday that they won’t be paid past Friday.

Again… it’s been a disappointing news week…

Well, now you can thank Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis for a bit of positive news. Leonsis’ Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which operates the Capitals and the Washington Wizards of the NBA, have announced that ALL part-time workers will be paid for postponed or cancelled games in March and April.

Check it out:

In an note to all staff sent out Thursday morning, Ted Leonsis, the chairman of MSE, told employees that beyond paying part-time staff for postponed games and events in March, they are expanding that commitment through April.
“Our ownership group and leadership team are in total agreement that this is the right thing to do,” said Monica Dixon, MSE chief administrative officer and president of external affairs. MSE already committed to paying part-time staff for 15 scheduled games and events in March. There were five games scheduled in April.
In sum, 850 MSE part-time staff will receive payments totaling $1.2 million for the suspended games and events through the end of the NHL and NBA seasons since both respectively suspended their seasons in mid-March because of concerns amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Every league and every team has its own set of individual circumstances, and must act accordingly,” Dixon said. “For Monumental Sports & Entertainment, we are operating simply in a paused state of play for our regular season and playoffs, and we intend to come back as a fully functioning organization to complete this season.”


Kudos to Leonsis and the entire Capitals organization for stepping up during a difficult time.