Boston Globe Jeremy Jacobs's sons explain why family waited to set up relief fund for TD Garden workers

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Jeremy Jacobs’s sons explain why family waited to set up relief fund for TD Garden workers - The Boston Globe

The sons of Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs agree that they waited too long to offer a relief fund for 1,000-plus TD Garden workers idled by the coronavirus shutdown.

But Jerry, Lou, and Charlie Jacobs want it known that they weren’t tardy out of neglect. They were late because they prioritized meeting the more pressing needs of their furloughed full-time workers spread out across six countries in their $3.7 billion Delaware North hospitality empire.

The flak the family took was not easy but was understandable given the nine-day delay and lack of communication from corporate headquarters.

That is why the sons wanted to tell New Englanders that there was more behind the lag in aid than what first met all the stink-eye.

“Without context, it seems perhaps arbitrary or there’s no rhyme or reason — 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,” said Charlie Jacobs in a conference call from Boston with his brothers, both in Buffalo, on Friday. “There was this groundswell of voices saying, ‘Come on, Jacobses, step up,’ and ‘Do this and do that.’ 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.”

COVID-19 is decimating Delaware North. A month ago, there were 55,000 employees. Today, 1,100 are left on the payroll.

The hospitality, entertainment, and leisure company has holdings in every sector the virus has immobilized: restaurants, casinos, catering, and food services at resorts, stadiums, arenas, and national parks in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.

It was “gut-wrenching,” said Charlie Jacobs, to tell roughly 98 percent of the company’s salaried workforce that their jobs were disappearing. Those who still have jobs have accepted pay cuts, with senior level staff taking a higher percentage.

“From the outset it was important to Dad,” said Lou Jacobs. “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.’ We actually were the ones who put our hands up and said, ‘Can we slow down on that and address that later?’ ”

After hearing from their father that “I’m getting beat up here, let me do this thing” one too many times, the sons finally addressed Boston.

“I think what got us in trouble really was the time it took for us to get there,” said Jerry Jacobs. “I hope you understand there’s a reason that it took us that time and it wasn’t because we were dispassionate. It’s the opposite. It’s because we were trying to take care of the people we felt needed the most. We did do it, but we just didn’t do it fast enough, and that upset people. But there’s a good reason why.”

Jerry Jacobs said the notion of a family with its resources doing more in this time of increased need was misdirected.

“I have to tell you, when you say ‘great wealth,’ you’re talking about Delaware North companies, and as Charlie described our capital is largely invested in the business,” said Jerry Jacobs. “It’s sort of like saying, ‘You have a net worth and that includes your house and you have to sell your house in order to have the cash to actually give it away.’ That’s very much the situation we’re in. Our capital is tied up in our business, and our business is basically shut down. So, it’s tied our hands. As much as we want to be more philanthropic in a time of great need, it’s really tied our hands and our ability to do so.

“Delaware North is the Jacobs family asset.”



 

Aussie Bruin

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While the Jacobs family have unquestionably handled this whole situation poorly, and most of their statements here do them no favors, their point about the size of Delaware and the sheer scale of the amount of business the company has lost in the space of a couple of weeks is not without merit. It can't have been easy sorting out what to do with over 50,000 employees who were suddenly out of work and based at locations the vast majority of which have ceased to bring in any money. That doesn't excuse simply ignoring the part-timers in the slightest, but I can appreciate the scope of the challenge they've faced.

They're also far from alone in not paying their staff. Hundreds of large companies all over the world have placed most of their employees on leave with reduced pay or none at all. The whole point and methodology of a sizeable corporation is that you re-invest your capital in new assets and generate further revenue, you don't just stockpile a big pot of cash. We've seen time and time again that when even seemingly large and well-off organizations lose their income streams, they usually also lose the ability to be able to pay their employees' wages pretty quickly. For better or worse that's how it goes.

Despite that I think the Jacobs' should have and can do better because in their case they know that Delaware can offset a short-term diminishing of their wealth by the money they'll surely re-accumulate from all their guaranteed client contracts once things return to at least semi-normality. In that sense they're better placed and facing less risk than many others and they'd do well to acknowledge that fact.
 

sarge88

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I know nothing about the inner workings of running a multi billion dollar business, but if you do own one and you don’t have 50-100 million in liquid funds, you’re doing it wrong.
(Which I’m sure they do)

No sympathy for them.
 
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AngryMilkcrates

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Could have easily put out a tweet or presser stating they were looking into a relief package and would have an answer on it in a week.

They didn't

Why? because their priorities were not the people. If it were they would want to console and reassure them as soon as possible.
 

BruinsNetwork

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The Jacobs Family PR Plan:

1. Do something (or not do something) that will result in poor optics and criticism

2. Circle backwards, make a statement met with a “positive” plan to show there’s a pulse...but subtly let the public and media know that you have more money, assets and businesses than everyone else does.

3. Find yourself back at no. 1 and repeat the cycle.

Their PR team probably consists of many hardworking individuals, but I question their grasp on the situation from start to finish. Difficult to imagine the original statement of the relief fund would have been released, but even more difficult to imagine the billionaire family would be playing the “woe it’s me” card in regards to the level of difficulty involved for them. The level of difficulty involved....for the billionaire family....in a financial crisis....where hourly employees had to be terminated.

Can’t be more tone deaf than this organization.
 

NiftyWasNasty

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Could have easily put out a tweet or presser stating they were looking into a relief package and would have an answer on it in a week.

They didn't

Why? because their priorities were not the people. If it were they would want to console and reassure them as soon as possible.

On March 14th Delaware North made the following statement.

“Delaware North has operations in over 50 sports stadiums, ballparks and arenas throughout the world. The hardworking associates at each location, including TD Garden, are facing great challenges due to the impact of COVID-19 on the sports industry. Delaware North at its core is a family company and our top priority is to provide our associates, and their families, with the assurances they deserve during this difficult time. We are actively exploring support options and will have further information in the coming days.”
7 days later they announced their fund.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/03/21/bruins-announce-1-5m-fund-for-part-time-gameday-workers/

...but hey, let's burn 'em anyway!!
 

AngryMilkcrates

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On March 14th Delaware North made the following statement.

“Delaware North has operations in over 50 sports stadiums, ballparks and arenas throughout the world. The hardworking associates at each location, including TD Garden, are facing great challenges due to the impact of COVID-19 on the sports industry. Delaware North at its core is a family company and our top priority is to provide our associates, and their families, with the assurances they deserve during this difficult time. We are actively exploring support options and will have further information in the coming days.”

7 days later they announced their fund.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/03/21/bruins-announce-1-5m-fund-for-part-time-gameday-workers/

...but hey, let's burn 'em anyway!!

Fair enough. Then their PR person should be fired.
That announcement was given to the NHL AFTER they reached out to Delaware North. This was in response to the players putting together a GoFundMe and basically calling out Jacobs who by then was the focus of media scrutiny for NOT doing anything for their employees.

If they had a plan in the works, they should have said it sooner and saved themself the public embarrassment. Not wait until their hand was forced by their OWN players and the NHL themselves.

If you assume the Jacobs family and their executives of DN are innocent in all this, then their PR staff just made them look real bad in the eyes of the rest of the NHL and its fans. Especially considering that Jacobs is Head of the Owners he should have been the FIRST to make some kind of statement, not the last.
 
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PatriceBergeronFan

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On March 14th Delaware North made the following statement.

“Delaware North has operations in over 50 sports stadiums, ballparks and arenas throughout the world. The hardworking associates at each location, including TD Garden, are facing great challenges due to the impact of COVID-19 on the sports industry. Delaware North at its core is a family company and our top priority is to provide our associates, and their families, with the assurances they deserve during this difficult time. We are actively exploring support options and will have further information in the coming days.”

7 days later they announced their fund.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/03/21/bruins-announce-1-5m-fund-for-part-time-gameday-workers/

...but hey, let's burn 'em anyway!!

Was that before or after the pathetic GoFundMe?
 

talkinaway

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Honestly, I thought about the whole "Delaware North is big" argument, and it doesn't quite hold water. If you're big, doesn't that mean you should have more human resources so that you can actually help out the people who now don't have jobs?

And, hell, Mark Cuban is "big" - it may not be consolidated into one neat little package like Delaware North (maybe it is? I dunno - he's got a lot of Shark Tank investments), but I imagine he has so many balls in the air it would be dizzying to see. Nevertheless, he was one of the first ones to say that he's taking care of his people. Period. And given how high-profile he is, people will hold his feet to the fire on that.

One caveat: Yes, JJ and family are worth billions. That doesn't mean they have billions in cash lying around in a vault; their business IS their net worth, and even in normal times isn't liquid. Plus, the market's tanked - the Dow is off about 30% from its peak, as is the S&P 500.

But clearly, even without knowing the details and the numbers, they could have at least reflexively said, "We're paying everyone through X, and we're looking into seeing how far we can extend this."

And JJ is actually relatively low-profile for a billionaire. Honestly, other than rabid hockey fans, before the Globe article, how many people do you think would be able to recall him? Hell, even the city of Boston didn't recognize him when he failed to host about 40 charity events at the Garden over 13 years.
 
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Jim

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Wow, you guys are all real heroes. Easy to spend other people’s money, huh? They just told you Delaware North isn’t liquid. So, I suppose the cash should come directly out of the owners’ bank accounts? Or should they risk the long-term health of the company by jumping the gun and promising cash without working out the numbers? Unlike our government, companies can’t print money and do worry about profit...and debt, specifically when money is no longer coming in.

Be glad the Bruins are owned by a business savvy family instead of the myriad of pissant owners teams like the Coyotes have cycled through.

Never mind the jobs they created, right? Never mind the money when the money was good. Once you give somebody something, you can never take it away. Bottom line: there’s no work. They don’t owe anybody a dime.
 

Fenway

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Honestly, I thought about the whole "Delaware North is big" argument, and it doesn't quite hold water. If you're big, doesn't that mean you should have more human resources so that you can actually help out the people who now don't have jobs?

And, hell, Mark Cuban is "big" - it may not be consolidated into one neat little package like Delaware North (maybe it is? I dunno - he's got a lot of Shark Tank investments), but I imagine he has so many balls in the air it would be dizzying to see. Nevertheless, he was one of the first ones to say that he's taking care of his people. Period. And given how high-profile he is, people will hold his feet to the fire on that.

One caveat: Yes, JJ and family are worth billions. That doesn't mean they have billions in cash lying around in a vault; their business IS their net worth, and even in normal times isn't liquid. Plus, the market's tanked - the Dow is off about 30% from its peak, as is the S&P 500.

But clearly, even without knowing the details and the numbers, they could have at least reflexively said, "We're paying everyone through X, and we're looking into seeing how far we can extend this."

And JJ is actually relatively low-profile for a billionaire. Honestly, other than rabid hockey fans, before the Globe article, how many people do you think would be able to recall him? Hell, even the city of Boston didn't recognize him when he failed to host about 40 charity events at the Garden over 13 years.

@talkinaway One thing that is overlooked is the fact that for many TD Garden employees it is a second job and that complicates matters.
 

the negotiator

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Economics and optics

The Jacobs get the economics- how to allocate capital and preserve net worth. It's a strict numerical exercise ...linear and black and white in decision making

The optics part is where they fall off a cliff. The nuances and the need to balance objective and subjective considerations is a mystery to them.

They figure- and probably rightly so- that as long as the team is winning all of this will blow over and revenues will continue to rise. So who cares about a little bad press, it's just a small bump on the road to bigger profits
 

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