NY Streets a 2019 NAL Expansion team in New York, plus more expansion on the way?

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By Aaron Castete

​About a month ago, a website and Facebook page surfaced in the arena football community, when arena football coach Rick Marsillo posted on Facebook about a NY Streets tryout. The tryout took place on June 23rd at the NFL's New York Jets practice facility. Slowly but steadily, the team's legitimacy grew, as the team's owner, head coach, and director of player personnel were revealed on their website. As the weeks went by, more activity was taking place on their Facebook page, including interviews and tryout footage.

The Streets are committed to joining the National Arena League for 2019, and have already gotten an early start on tryouts, staff, and social media. Normally the league tries to keep expansion news quiet, but the Streets organization appeared to want an early start advantage above other potential expansion sites.


The Team's Staff:
The New York Streets have 3 staff members listed on their website, and we will break down each of the three.

Corey Galloway (Owner)
-He founded Legacy Growth Partners, LLC, a private investment firm with investments in entertainment, manufacturing and real estate. In the past, he does have experience with team ownership. as he owned the Harrisburg Stampede who played in the PIFL. With the Stampede, he aided in the facility negotiating, built out financial models, produced games from the floor and dealt with merchandising.

Rick Marsillo (Head Coach and Assistant GM)
-Rick has a great history in Arena football operations and coaching. He was the Head Coach of the York Capitals during 2015 and 2016 when the team moved to Harrisburg, Pa and competed as the Central Penn Capitals. After he made major adjustments to the team, they went on to undefeated season (10-0) leading the league in every stat, as they made their way to the American Indoor Football (AIF) Championship. Also he worked for the Harrisburg Stampede in the PIFL for a total of 8 seasons in numerous positions. He worked his way up in the organization and was involved with the following roles combined over his 8 seasons: Assistant General Manager, Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator.

DeValle Ellis (Director of Player Personnel)
-Ellis is a former NFL player who played a total of 3 seasons in the league, as he played for the Lions two seasons, and the Browns in one season. His last season. which was in 2009 with the Browns, abruptly ended when he was waived on July 26, 2009. As a native of Brooklyn, Ellis returns to peruse helping the Streets team succeed. 

Potential Other Involved
-Could Marques Colston be involved with the franchise? As a former owner of the Harrisburg Stampede, he could re-unite with Marsillo and Galloway to make this Streets team successful. Consider this though, Colston is an owner of the Albany Empire and the Philadelphia Soul who are in the Arena Football League. Could this mean that Colston will leave those teams to join the Streets as an owner, will the Soul and Empire make a switch to the NAL, there are so many scenarios. Marques Colston was spotted on an interview on the Streets Facebook page at the tryout event.

Brooklyn appears to be the team's destination:
-There are so many things that point us to the direction that the Streets will reside in Brooklyn. First off, look at the team colors; they match up with the colors of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and their venue the Barclays Center. Secondly, the team staff has mentioned Brooklyn many times as the team's home, and Galloway and Ellis are both from Brooklyn. Also the team announced their own new practice facility at PacPlex in Brooklyn, NY, which is another reason that points towards Brooklyn being their home. It would be logical that Galloway wants to return home with Ellis to start this new franchise, which is destined for success.

More NAL Expansion and  Eastern & Western Conferences rumored?:
-As you may remember, a trademark was filed on Monday May 21st by National Sports Ventures LLC  which is the National Arena League. The trademark was registered as "Nashville Kats", which confirms arena football is headed back to Nashville and the Kats are returning, but this time it'll be in the NAL. National Sports Ventures LLC had registered the Maine Mammoths and Carolina Cobras names months before the team's names were announced previously in 2017. Since 2017, Nashville has been one of many rumored markets to join the league. Sources reported that the Nashville team was on the brink of playing in 2018, but decided to hold off for more preparation.

Nashville and New York are the two known expansion markets at this time, with lots more in the works, such as one in Florida which is rumored to be Tampa or Orlando. Also the Monterrey Steel are set to potentially make their return in 2019, as it has been hinted at by the team's dance page which has told fans the team will return in 2019.

New York Dragons still in the mix?:
Last off-season the AFT staff was the first group to discover the New York Dragons trademark that the NAL filed. Geographically, two New York area teams would pose for a huge rivalry, and big success for the league. Could the New York Dragons still be in the works, or is this the group that was trying to bring them back but decided to go with a different name? There are lots of possibilities with this situation, and either way it has a positive connotation for the NAL. 

If the Dragons are still in works, the home of the team is clear, and the venue is known. The team would undoubtedly play at the newly renovated Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which was the former home of the team.

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