Minor league sports press Congress for COVID-19 relief

0

Professional minor league sports organizations on Wednesday urged congressional leaders to provide federal relief to teams that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The organizations, which included Minor League Baseball, the American Hockey League and the United Soccer League, said that many teams lost more than 90 percent of their revenue in the first year of the pandemic alone due to canceled games and that the omicron variant is causing additional cancellations and driving down demand.

“Teams in leagues across the spectrum of sports have lost tens of millions of dollars since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and action is desperately needed now to protect these small businesses and safeguard their vital economic contributions to communities across the nation,” minor league executives wrote in a letter to congressional leaders Wednesday.

The executives said that many teams will “struggle to stay afloat in the absence of relief from Congress” and called on lawmakers to grant relief “in the first available legislative vehicle.”

Minor league teams have lamented that they were not eligible for billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief for struggling venue operators passed by Congress in late 2020. Lawmakers provided aid to multiple other industries battered by the coronavirus, including airlines and restaurants. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced a bill last year that would establish a $550 million relief fund for pandemic-hit minor league teams, but it wasn’t included in any larger packages that passed Congress.

The letter comes as Sens. Ben CardinBenjamin (Ben) Louis CardinThis week: Democrats return to Russia tensions, looming Supreme Court fight Senators close in on Russia sanctions deal Overnight Defense & National Security — Pentagon tells Russia to stand down MORE (D-Md.) and Roger WickerRoger Frederick WickerThe GOP could learn something from Kenny Rogers’s gambler Cruz: Biden commitment to nominate first Black woman to Supreme Court ‘offensive’ Court fight represents golden opportunity for Cruz, Hawley, Cotton MORE (R-Miss.) work on a COVID-19 relief proposal targeted at struggling small businesses. Gyms, hotels, bars and restaurants are among the industries pushing to be included in the bill. 

Minor league organizations are leaning on a team of lobbyists at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld led by Ed Pagano, a former senior Obama administration staffer and Senate Democratic aide, to push their message to Congress.

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our  Twitter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest  Business News Click Here 

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Rapidtelecast.com is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
Leave a comment