Charlie Jacobs said meeting the needs of furloughed full-timers caused the relief fund delayGETTY IMAGES
Delaware North Boston Holdings CEO Charlie Jacobs and co-CEO Lou Jacobs agree that they "waited too long to offer a relief fund for 1,000-plus TD Garden workers idled by the coronavirus shutdown," according to Michael Silverman of the BOSTON GLOBE. However, the pair said that they "weren't tardy out of neglect" because they "prioritized meeting the more pressing needs of their furloughed full-time workers." Charlie Jacobs on Friday said, "If you don’t understand the whole picture, it’s very difficult to comprehend, to borrow Jerry’s words, the ‘triage process’ that we went through." He added, "When we got to finally address our part-time associates, it was several days after other teams in other leagues and even other NHL teams had already made plans for game-night associates. But again, those people don’t necessarily have a workforce of 55,000 people, they just don’t have it.” Silverman noted COVID-19 is "decimating Delaware North." A month ago, there were 55,000 employees, but today, 1,100 are "left on the payroll." Charlie and Lou Jacobs did say that their their father, Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs, was "urging them to help him do something in Boston." Lou Jacobs said, "From the outset it was important to Dad. The Bruins were his early focus, but we were sort of saying, 'Dad, we’re dealing with this portfolio of businesses here, we've got to come up with a better overall strategy for everything else'" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/5).
WHAT WENT WRONG? The Boston Globe's Kevin Paul Dupont said of the Jacobs family's coronavirus response, "It was my impression that … by that second weekend, so 10 days into it ... there was a group plan." He added, "It was going to be a joint effort between a number of parties, ownership of both teams, foundations of both teams, individual players of both teams putting up a pot of money and having that done." Dupont: "Well it fell apart, and I don’t know why it fell apart. And then the Celtics did their little bit, and again the Celtics to their credit, they’re tenants ... of (TD Garden), obviously and then it fell apart on the Bruins side. And then ultimately guys, look what happened. ... Bruins ownership themselves ponied up $1.5 million, more than the Red Sox, and made that fix. And even when they did that they got no good publicity. ... It wound up costing them 3x, and people are still pissed." More Dupont: "This whole sham about Charlie being ... The Guy, being the guy in place. ... There should be a voice there from ownership’s side who speaks with sympathy and clarity and vision and promise and all the things you want from a team owner or leader" (WEEI.RADIO.com, 4/2).
