DETROIT (WXYZ) — A $1 million fund is being set up to cover the lost wages of employees who work at a number of Downtown Detroit venues owned our operated by the Ilitches.
The fund is being established by the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, 313 Presents, Fox Theatre, and Little Caesars Arena. It will be used to cover one month's wages for part-time staff for games, concerts, and events that they would have otherwise worked were it not for the recent cancellations and postponements caused by the coronavirus crisis.
While the Detroit Pistons are not under the Ilitch umbrella, a Pistons spokesperson confirms that all Pistons employees, including hourly and part-time staff who support game day activities at Little Caesars Arena, will be paid during the period when the games are suspended.
If a worker was scheduled to work an event that has been canceled in the next month, they will be paid.
The organizations are also looking for opportunities to move arena staff into other roles.
This fund will cover our part-time wages for the Red Wings four home games that were paused; Detroit Pistons eight home games that were suspended; and for the Detroit Tigers six Spring Training games that were canceled at Publix Field at Joker Merchant Stadium in Lakeland, FL. This also will include our Little Caesars Arena and Fox Theatre employees impacted by the postponement of concerts and events, which currently includes:
- Little Big Town, March 12 at Fox Theatre
- WWE Friday Night Smackdown, March 13 at Little Caesars Arena
- 14th Annual Motor City Blues Festival, March 14 at Fox Theatre
- Zac Brown Band, March 14 at Little Caesars Arena
- March Badness, March 15 at Little Caesars Arena
- Nick Cannon Presents: MTV Wild ‘N Out, March 19 at Little Caesars Arena
- Blake Shelton, March 21 at Little Caesars Arena
- Festival of Laughs, March 21 at Fox Theatre
- Billie Eilish, March 23 at Little Caesars Arena
- RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles, March 27 at Fox Theatre
- The Bachelor Live on Stage, April 4 at Fox Theatre
- NCAA Frozen Four, April 9 and 11, at Little Caesars Arena (cancelled)
"Our sincere hope is that this provides comfort to our colleagues in this difficult time. When events resume, we look forward to our colleagues being safely back to work as normal," Ilitch Holdings Group President of Sports and Entertainment Chris Granger said in a statement.