Real Salt Lake has announced it will cut the salaries of some employees and furlough others while play is suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Stream new episodes of ESPN FC Monday-Friday on ESPN+
- Stream every episode of 30 for 30: Soccer Stories on ESPN+
The team said in a statement that it will reduce salaries of all executives and staff, and decrease staffing levels across the organization, which includes furloughs for some employees. RSL said it would re-staff once the league returns. Major League Soccer suspended all play on March 12.
"We have been informed that the Federal CARES program will not be available to the organization. As a result, we are forced to adapt and align our workforce appropriately to face these new challenges and difficult circumstances,'' the team said in the statement, referring to the federal coronavirus relief program.
The league announced last week that it was cutting the salaries of its top three executives, including Commissioner Don Garber, by 25%, while also reducing management and other staff pay. But MLS planned no layoffs or furloughs at the league's headquarters in New York.
MLS Players Association executive director Bob Foose told ESPN's Jeff Carlisle that the league has not approached the union about players taking salary cuts, and added that teams are better equipped than others throughout the world to cope with the effects of the pandemic.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
