B.C. Premier John Horgan says there have been no proposals for financial assistance from sports teams that have come money that have come across his desk yet.

It is as the BCHL, KIJHL, and the CFL have all indicated they’ll be reaching out for a bail out in light of COVID-19 related cancellations.

“For professional sports teams, its not just the gate receipts about who shows up and who has a hot dog and a beer and all of that,” Horgan said. “It’s all of the other economic spin-offs, so there are positive consequences of having activity, and there’s negative consequences of it stopping.”

In a conference call with media on Wednesday, Horgan says discussions with between sports teams and leagues and province are starting to begin, and he seemed to be in favour of giving teams a boost, if needed.

“I think people get jaded if they are not sports fans, and they look at the salaries that many athletes get paid,” he said.

“I’ll tell you that lacrosse players don’t get paid that much, hockey players do, and CFL players are somewhere in between. But they are workers, and they are affected by this adversely and we need to talk about that.”

Speaking to NL Sports, Kamloops Storm GM Matt Kolle said the impacts will be felt by teams in the KIJHL for the next couple of years, while Merritt Centennials Governor Neil Menard is confident says the BCHL team will make it through these tough times, despite the setbacks.

He says the province will take those requests into consideration just like everything else on the plate, but notes there are other issues that are more important.

“But there is a negative economic consequence to not seeing our professional sports underway this summer,” Horgan noted. “The impact of the Vancouver Canucks in the playoffs for the beverage industry is significant. There’s a whole indicators I could roll out.”