Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, and Washington Mystics, is enacting a 20 percent base salary reduction for employees making more than $75,000. The salary reduction will begin on July 12 and last until the end of the year. Employees making less than $75,000 will not be affected.

The move is due to the coronavirus pandemic and uncertainty facing all sports teams.

The news was first reported by The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir and confirmed by the Washington Post’s Candace Buckner.

Employees with a base salary of $75,000 or more will see reductions of 20-percent, I'm told. Employees making less than $75,000 will not be affected. https://t.co/WdDC2EQRwr

— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) June 11, 2020

Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the #Capitals, #Mystics & #Wizards, will enact a 20% base salary reduction for employees earning more than $75k, effective July 12 until the end of the year, the company told employees today. @Tarik_ElBashir first with announcement

— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) June 11, 2020

Monica Dixon, MSE’s chief administrative officer and president of external affairs, had this to say in a release, according to the Washington Post.

“Many organizations are impacted by the covid-19 pandemic including the sports, entertainment and hospitality industries, which are among the hardest-hit,” Dixon wrote. “Monumental Sports & Entertainment has been dramatically affected and will continue to be for an uncertain length of time. We have taken a number of steps to conserve our finances so that we can continue to fund our highest priority: our people.”

The Washington Post also reports that MSE chairman Ted Leonsis and his partners have suspended their compensation entirely while all senior members have absorbed a 20 percent pay cut since April 19.

In mid-March, shortly after the NHL suspended its season, Ted Leonsis was one of the first owners in the NHL to announce he would still pay Capital One Arena workers, protecting some of the most vulnerable in the workforce.

“This is an unprecedented time. Developments on the COVID-19 outbreak continue to be fast-moving,” Leonsis wrote in Ted’s Take, his longtime blog, in March. “Safeguarding the health and welfare of the community is paramount.”