With the 2020 Thanksgiving holiday now in the rear-view and the calendar officially flipped to the final month of the year, NHL teams are beginning to revisit issues related to their bottom lines, mostly associated with revenue losses related to the shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Anaheim Ducks and the Toronto Maple Leafs organizations announced cuts to their workforce earlier this week. The latest round of cuts covered a wide swath of functions and services across each of the organizations.
The Anaheim Ducks announced they are cutting less than 15% of current full-time employees, which included those employed by the San Diego Gulls.
Loss of revenue lead #NHLDucks ownership to announce job cuts. According to spokesman, it is less than 15% of full-time employees across Samuelis business enterprise, including team and AHL’s San Diego Gulls and The Rinks. Distinct majority are furloughs but some cuts permanent.
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) December 2, 2020
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MSLE), owner of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, and the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, have laid off 25 of its staff, officially moving these employees to “inactive” status.
25 per cent of MLSE staff moving to temporary inactive status, per @BNNBloomberg https://t.co/QvChtfrhef
— 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 (@dalter) November 30, 2020
Help On The Way
On Tuesday NHL teams began releasing new products associated with the “Reverse Retro” product campaign, including the much anticipated “Reverse Retro” jerseys, which should generate some much needed income for each of the teams.
Additionally, the latest payment from the Seattle expansion franchise fee ($650 million) is due, which will be split with all teams except the Vegas Golden Knights, and will also help address issues related to each team’s balance sheet.
However, the biggest potential budget rescuer could be the pending release of the COVID-19 vaccines, which will undoubtedly expedite the return of fans to arenas.
By Jon Sorensen
