Amid NBA Season Suspension, Grizzlies Owner Robert Pera Will Pay Team Game Night Employees

Add Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Pera to the list of people around the NBA using their wealth to help team workers through the league’s indefinite suspension.

As first reported by The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins, the 42-year-old Pera will compensate all Memphis’ game night employees for any games missed through the rest of the season.

Per Calkins, Pera’s commitment will not cover all employees who work at the arena, namely the concession workers. Those workers are paid by Levy Restaurants, who operate the arena concession stands. According to the Chicago Business Journal, the company reported $1.5 billion in revenue in 2017.

Pera joins a growing list of owners and NBA players who have donated money to aid workers who otherwise would lose income due to canceled games. Notable names include Cavs forward Kevin Love and the entire Cleveland organization, the Golden State Warriors and Jazz center Rudy Gobert.

As of today, there is no set date for the NBA’s season to return from its hiatus.According NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the season suspension will go for ‘at least’ 30 days.

“Of course the issue becomes now, what we determined today, is that this hiatus will be most likely at least 30 days,” Silver said earlier this week. “And we don’t know enough to be more specific than that. But we wanted to give direction to our players and teams and fans that this is going to be roughly at least a month. But then the question becomes is there a protocol frankly with or without fans in which we can resume play. I think the goal [is] … what makes sense here without compromising anyone’s safety. It’s frankly too early to tell.”

Already, the players have be made aware of the ‘force majeure’ clause by the NBPA, which would see players lose 1/92.6th of their salary for each missed game that cannot be rescheduled. Per ESPN, that move hasn’t been discussed as an option by owners.

Prior to the season being put on pause, the Grizzlies had eight remaining home games. That does not include any potential playoff games, which would certainly drive additional team revenue and hours for workers. Currently, Memphis owns the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and has a 3.5 games lead over three teams: the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings, with the San Antonio Spurs four games back. Were the Grizzlies to make the playoffs, they’d be guaranteed a minimum of two home games, barring any changes to the playoff format that reduced the length of first-round series.

Pera, the CEO of technology company Ubiquiti Networks, is worth an estimated $6.9 billion, according to Forbes. In 2018, when Pera bought out Grizzlies minority owner Daniel Straus, the franchise had an estimated value between $1.3 and $1.4 billion. The latest Forbes franchise valuations have the Grizzlies listed as worth $1.2 billion — the lowest total in the NBA — while generating $53 in revenue per fan.