The Atlanta Falcons have decided to shut down their facility and put a hold on coaches and scouts traveling until March 27th—leaving employees with no job and no pay.
Falcons team president, Rich McKay spoke with The Athletic’s Jason Butt about the coronavirus and the procedures the team will be taking in response to the epidemic.
Butt reported the team’s decision to pay the hourly employees was ‘an easy on to make.”
“We’ve tried to over-communicate at a time where there’s no question people have personal angst and anxiety,” McKay said to Butt. “You’ve got to be empathetic towards it because it’s real.”
Falcons owner Arthur Blank will be paying all employees who work for The Blank Family of Businesses which includes hourly employees for the Falcons, Atlanta United, and any employees of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
‘The Show Must Go On’
Free agency is in a few days and the league has not yet announced any changes to the start date. There’s really no point to.
While the Falcons facility in Flowery Branch is closed and coaches and scouts are suspended from traveling, the ‘show’ must go on.
On Friday the NFL announced that all teams must not have any in-person interviews between teams and draft prospects.
While the teams can’t physically meet with prospects, they will have to conduct video interviews and are allowed to speak with a player up to three times per week.
McKay says the Falcons have interacted with the prospects enough, the cancelation of pro days and seeing them physically won’t make a difference. There’s also enough film that comes along with each player
“Our scouts have interacted with these players numerous times over the course of a couple of years on their college campuses and have a pretty good feel for them,” McKay told AtlantaFalcons.com.
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Everyone Stepping Up to Help
The Falcons franchise isn’t the only one taking care of their employees. Other team owners and even players are doing anything they can to help.
As soon as the NBA announced the league was suspended, the Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban immediately started discussing putting a program in place to help employees
“I reached out … to find out what it would cost to financially support people who aren’t going to be able to come to work.”
–Mark Cuban on his plan for Mavericks employees during the NBA suspension
Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavs also stepped in and donated $100,000, and the Cavs sent out a statement that said the organization was planning on setting up a payment plan for hourly workers.
The NHL isn’t forgetting about their employees either, calling their staff the backbone of the arena. Penguins players and the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation will be helping out their staff.
Pelicans rookie, Zion Williams is pledging to cover staff wages for the next 30 days.
While this epidemic hurts the sports world, it is bringing people together and showing what’s more important than the game.
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Falcons Owner Pledges to Pay Employees in Response to Coronavirus