logo

Did the sports business receive $1.72 billion in federal coronavirus relief?

Saturday, December 12, 2020
By Christopher Hutton
YES

Nearly 4,000 sports businesses (473 sports teams, plus athletic conferences, equipment retailers and halls of fame) received $1.72 billion in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans, part of the expansive federal relief package enacted in March. More information about the loans was made public following a judge's order in November. Sportico, an industry news site, compiled the data.

The forgivable loans were designed to support employment in the first coronavirus-related shutdowns, and supported 235,475 jobs in the sports sector. At least 286 sports businesses received loans of $1 million or more. Recipients included owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins, a pro ice-hockey team, and three Major League Soccer teams.

No NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB teams accepted PPP money. The Los Angeles Lakers received a loan, but later returned it after public scrutiny.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
FACT BRIEF BY
facebook
twitter
email
email