Floyd Mayweather's Promotion Among Sports Organizations to Receive PPP Loan
July 7, 2020
A number of sports organizations applied for the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, designed to provide financial assistance to small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
Per data released on Monday (via ESPN.com), Mayweather Promotions, Top Rank Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions were among the organizations that received approval for aid.
The three boxing promotions applied for between $350,000 and $1 million "to ease the pain of the sport's extended layoff."
Per Mayweather Promotions' official website, the promotion overseen by Floyd Mayweather has "netted in excess of $350 million while generating over $1 billion in pay-per-view revenues" since being established in 2007.
According to the data, individual teams in Major League Soccer, NASCAR and IndyCar applied for loans. "Nearly every full-time team" in IndyCar received approval.
None of the four major professional North American sports leagues—NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL—applied for the program.
The Los Angeles Lakers applied for and received a $4.6 million loan, but the team issued a statement to Alicia Wallace of CNN Business in April the money was being returned "once we found out the funds from the program had been depleted."
D.C. United and Inter Miami received $1-2 million loans; the Seattle Sounders and Orlando City applied for $2-5 million, though it wasn't stated whether those loans were approved.
On July 2, National Women's Soccer League commissioner Lisa Baird told The New York Times' Andrew Das and Andrew Keh the league applied for a loan with the "sole intent" of paying players. The data released on Monday showed the amount of money applied for was $1-2 million.
Per the Associated Press (via the Salt Lake Tribune), BIG3 spokesman Jeremy Watkins said the basketball league returned $700,000 of the $1.6 million it was approved for.
The Payment Protection Program was established as part of the CARES Act signed by the United States government in March to support small businesses with a steady cash flow while companies have had to shut down or open with restrictions.