Arthur Blank, AMB Group to pay hourly employees amid COVID-19 shutdown

Atlanta Falcons team president Rich McKay spoke with The Athletic to discuss how the AMB Group, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, is further handling the effects of the COVID-19 virus in regards to staff. Here's an excerpt regarding the decision to pay all hourly employees during the extended shutdown of their facilities:

Speaking with The Athletic on Friday afternoon, Falcons team president Rich McKay said the decision to ensure hourly employees were not affected negatively during the pandemic was an easy one to make. McKay mentioned there are numerous hourly employees who work for Atlanta United and the Falcons and also at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the remaining companies that are a part of The Blank Family of Businesses, which is managed by the AMB Group.

McKay added that AMB Group CEO Steven Cannon sent out a video to all employees to ease their potential concerns.

“We’ve tried to over-communicate at a time where there’s no question people have personal angst and anxiety,” McKay said. “You’ve got to be empathetic towards it because it’s real.”

McKay said he was in "constant communication" with Atlanta Braves president/CEO Derej Schiller and Hawks CEO Steve Koonin on the issue. The story noted that AMB has not exactly decided how employees would be paid yet.

“We’re working through all those details as we speak," said McKay. We’ll give it to you when we finish it and hopefully we will finish it within the next day.”

COVID-19 is impacting the AMB Group and the rest of the sports world in a way few predicted. With MLS season suspended and Falcons' facilities shutdown for at least two more weeks, Blank & Co. are ensuring their employees are taken care of.

With the new NFL league year kicking off next week, there will still could plenty of Falcons news in the near future despite the shutdown. While the club is extremely limited from a cap space standpoint, they may elect to make cuts and retool at certain spots ahead of next month's NFL Draft.