The Albany Empire are a professional indoor football team based in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

. They are members of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

since 2021 and play home games at

MVP Arena The MVP Arena (originally Knickerbocker Arena, and then the Pepsi Arena and Times Union Center) is an indoor arena located in Albany, New York. It is configurable and can accommodate from 6,000 to 17,500 people, with a maximum seating capacity ...

. They are named after the defunct

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL) team of the same name that won the last ArenaBowl before the AFL folded.

History

In August 2020, Albany was announced as a 2021 expansion team in the

(NAL) and later obtained the rights to use the name of a defunct

(AFL) team, the Albany Empire. The team was owned by the same ownership group, including Ron Tridico and Nate Starling, as another NAL team that was named after a former AFL team, the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

. Former AFL Empire head coach

Rob Keefe Rob Keefe (born November 5, 1980) is a former arena football defensive specialist and coach. Keefe has five championship victories and is the only person in arena football history to win ArenaCup ( af2) and ArenaBowl (AFL) titles as both a playe ...

was brought back as head coach along with former

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members of the National Arena Leag ...

' head coach and Empire assistant head coach

Les Moss John Lester Moss (May 14, 1925 – August 29, 2012) was an Americans, American professional baseball player, Coach (baseball), coach, Scout (sports), scout and Manager (baseball), manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the S ...

as assistant head coach. However, by April 2021, both had left to join the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, Iowa) ...

, stating they did not have the same plans as the owners. The team's head coach during their inaugural season was Tom Menas, who led the Empire to a 7–1 record and an NAL championship. In November 2021, Tridico's and Starling's majority ownership of the team was sold to local businessman Mike Kwarta, while Tridico and Starling retained a minority stake.

Season-by-season results

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control National Arena League teams American football teams established in 2020 2020 establishments in New York (state) American football teams in New York (state) Albany Empire (AFL)