Albany Planning to Join NAL

By Anthony Miller

It appears that Albany will be getting an arena football team back in its city for next season. Jaclyn Cangro first reported that the owners of the Orlando Predators are working on a lease agreement with the Times Union Center. The hope is to have an Albany team in the NAL next season.

Cangro also shared a statement saying, "The Times Union Center is in negotiations with the owner of the Orlando Predators, which is interested in owning a second team within the NAL Arena Football League and they hope to start playing in 2021. The deal is not completely done yet and therefore we cannot yet confirm that this will 100% happen. However, we remain optimistic that a deal will get done in the near future and it is out hope to bring back an arena football team back to Albany. Tampa, Louisville, Orlando, Jacksonville, Baltimore, Carolina, West Virginia, Columbus, GA and potentially two additional markets besides Albany will be playing in the NAL in 2021. Many of the players who used to play in the AFL are now playing in the NAL. We hope to be able to host a press event in the coming weeks to confirm and finalize details."

Cangro was also told that Empire and Firebirds are being considered for names of the franchise. Albany last had a team with the Empire for the 2018 and 2019 AFL seasons. They made the playoffs twice and winning the last ArenaBowl last year before the league folded. More information is expected to be released in the next few weeks.