Los Angeles (AFP)
The Los Angeles Lakers have returned approximately $ 4.6 million (EUR 4.2 million) in funding as part of a US government program to help small businesses economically affected by the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN reports on Monday.
"The Lakers were eligible for the Cares wage protection program and received a loan. Once we found out that the program funds were exhausted, we repaid the loan so that financial assistance was directed to those who need it the most, "the NBA franchise said in a statement to the sports media.
The CARES law, in force for a month, was established to help small businesses in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. But this funding program, amounting to 349 million dollars (322 M EUR), encountered deployment problems.
The Lakers, one of the most profitable franchises in the NBA valued by Forbes magazine at 4.4 billion dollars (4 billion EUR), were among the companies and non-profit organizations that obtained loans during the first series of distributions, unlike hundreds of thousands of small businesses for which the law was specifically created.
The CARES law is part of a 2.200 billion dollar (2031 billion EUR) federal aid plan to help these companies cover wages, rents and other expenses, while they are forced to close their doors in order to to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The Lakers, which generate $ 434 million (EUR 400 million) in annual revenue according to Forbes, can benefit from loans from the NBA, which recently expanded its line of credit to more than $ 1 billion (approximately 923 M EUR).
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