Major League Soccer reduced its work force by about 20 percent on Thursday through a combination of layoffs and the elimination of open positions, yet another sign of the punishing financial effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on professional sports.
Most of the leagues employees, besides those in entry-level jobs, had their salaries reduced in April. Those reductions will continue for the roughly 270 that remain, according to a person with knowledge of the leagues plans. Most departments were affected, and the layoffs included a number of high-ranking executives.
The N.B.A. laid off around 100 employees in June, and the N.F.L. has reduced salaries and furloughed some employees. Some individual M.L.S. teams already have instituted pay cuts, furloughs and layoffs of their own, as have a number of teams in other sports.
M.L.S., like all sports leagues, has been hit hard by the coronavirus. Its regular season had just begun in March, with only two weeks of games completed, when the season was postponed. M.L.S. eventually completed a monthlong tournament in Orlando over the summer, and then completed an abbreviated three-month regular season in certain home markets. But the combined effects of canceled games, empty stadiums and significant costs for the testing that allowed it to return to the field have continued to mount.read more
M.L.S. Layoffs Cut League’s Staff by 20 Percent
