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Albany Empire

Posted on Sep 8, 2019, Modified : May 10, 2020 admin

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Albany Empire

Albany Empire is a professional arena football team that is based in Albany, New York. The empire began the play in 2018 in the Arena Football League (AFL). Home games are played at Times Union Center, situated in downtown Albany. The Empire is the second AFL team and Albany’s third arena football team. It succeeded in the original Albany Firebirds who is enjoying the great success beginning AFL play in 1990. The most notable winning is ArenaBowl XII, following the 2000 season before moving to Indian polis. Meanwhile, this was after the Albany Conquest who played in the af2 developmental league from 2002 until that folded after the season of 2009. This season was known as the last season of the Firebirds.

The Times Union Center-left without a full-time professional tenant, after the American Hockey League’s Albany Devils relocated to Binghamton, NY. It remained home of the NCCA Division I Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, to the Siena College men’s basketball team. Moreover, it confirmed by the Central general manager Bob Belber on March 14, 2017, that it was in early discussions to bring an AFL team back to Albany.

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The new Albany team officially announced as a member of the AFL for the 2018 season on October 24, 2018. The local ownership group, which was led by George Randolph Hearst III, has partnered with that of their AFL league-mates the Philadelphia Soul, that included Dick Vermeil, Marques Colston, Jahri Evans, and Ron Jaworski, among many others, for running both teams’ business operations while keeping their football operations separate. Above all, this is marked the second time the AFL announced two teams with common ownership and management.

However, the separate football operations managed as the Baltimore Bridge, and Washington Valor both operates and owns by D.C. It is the area businessman Ted Leonsis but the competitors on the field due to which are separately coached. Rob Keefe is Albany’s team’s head coach since November 7. Two days later on November 9, the Albany team announced that the four-team name finalist was the Fire, Phoenix, Empire, and Machine. Likewise, the winning name announced on January 23, 2018, after the voting ended up on November 15, as the “Albany Empire”.

The team though lose at home to the Philadelphia Soul 56-35 before a sellout crowd of 13, 648, played its first game on April 14, 2018. The empire won their first ArenaBowl defeating the Philadelphia Soul 45-27 on August 11, 2019.