Real Salt Lake's recent decision to lay off and furlough employees, as well as reduce the salary of some by as much as 40%, "could be just the beginning of the financial struggles for an RSL franchise that has a sole owner, operates multiple soccer clubs and resides in a small market," according to Alex Vejar of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. RSL Chief Business Officer Andy Carroll said, "This isn't a one-year problem. This is a two-year problem." Carroll added that he "took a 20% pay cut on his base salary and a cut of more than 50% of his total compensation." A spokesperson said that every coach for RSL, the NWSL Utah Royals, the USL Championship Real Monarchs and the RSL Academy "agreed to a pay cut," but the person added that they "did not know the percentage of the cut." However, salary reductions are "only one piece of the financial puzzle." The "bulk of the revenue made for North American soccer clubs comes on game days." With no games happening currently, none of that revenue is "coming in for teams." How this fits in with RSL comes "mainly with tickets and sponsorships." Carroll said that RSL's policy is to "credit any lost games" from '20 for games in '21. So, if the club "loses five games this season, season ticket holders will effectively be paying for five less games next season." That situation "reduces revenue" for RSL in '21. Meanwhile, Carroll did not say whether any sponsors have backed out, but he did "intimate that some were struggling" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 4/21).
