Orlando City will compensate all part-time and hourly employees who would have worked for the club on Saturday’s match.
A club source confirmed the team is working to ensure workers don’t go without the expected income generated by any canceled matches. The first step of this process is to pay all employees for the hours they would have worked on Saturday when Orlando City was slated to host the Chicago Fire.
The decision came after MLS announced a league-wide suspension of all games on Thursday morning with the hope of reducing the spread of the coronavirus. The league also mandated a temporary suspension of team training sessions until Monday at the earliest, requiring teams to only allow players to use team facilities one at a time.
Saturday’s match against the Fire is one of two Orlando City home games that fell within the 30-day suspension window. The second game against the Montreal Impact was slated to take place on April 4. At this time, the team does not have a plan in place for compensation for the second game as the league continues to adapt its pandemic response.
However, the club source said Orlando City is prioritizing supporting all workers, including part-time and hourly staff, who are affected by the suspension of play.