Albany gets pro arena football team
New franchise to open play in spring of 2018
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. » Pro indoor football is officially returning to the Capital District in 2018.
A new Albany Arena Football League franchise was announced by the team’s local ownership group that includes Times Union Publisher George Hearst III, Dan Nolan and Ed Swyer at the Hearst Media Center Tuesday. The local owners have partnered with owners of the two-time defending AFL champion Philadelphia Soul, including former NFL stars Ron Jaworski and Marques Coleston, current Green Bay Packers lineman Jahri Evans and ex-NFL head coach Dick Vermeil.
“When you talk about a partnership that’s second to none, you’re marrying a brand new city that I think is going to be outstanding with regard to area football with what has become our proudest franchise right now with two straight championships and running,” AFL Comissioner Scott Butera said.
John Adams will serve as president of both teams but individual staffs for each franchise will be unique. The union of the ownership between the Soul and Albany’s unnamed team will not affect the competition on the field, Jaworski said.
“The ownership group doesn’t play,” Jaworski said. “We invest our money, we organize the teams and it will be a fierce competition on the field. We have nothing to do with the outcome of the game on the field.”
Albany will play it’s games at the Times Union Center, the former home of the Albany Firebirds, an AFL team who played until the team moved to Indianapolis in 2000.
Another area indoor football franchise called the Albany Conquest played in Arena Football’s development league from 2002-09.
“I’ve been around the AFL long enough to remember the Albany Firebirds. Watching them on ABC in an Arena Bowl game, fans going crazy up here in Albany,” Jaworski, a 17-year NFL veteran who is now an analyst, said. “It’s back. The good times are back in Albany.”
Many of the speakers Tuesday mentioned the opportunities the franchise will provide to the area as things to look forward to, including Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.
“This wonderful worldclass facility is going to have premier professional football,” Sheehan said. “It’s going to bring tremendous excitement to downtown.”
Fans can go to AlbanyAFL.com and submit a team name suggestion. Final choices will be selected and made available for fan vote. The winning name will be announced after the voting period. The person that submitted the team name that was ultimately selected will receive a special team prize pack.
The ownership cited the league’s exciting product at an affordable family price as an advantage for the AFL in any market.
“I love being around kids who play football,” Vermeil a Super Bowl-winning coach of the St. Louis Rams, said. “It gives people an opportunity to play, people an opportunity to coach and people an opportunity to go to a game. You can afford to come. The first time I took (my wife) Carol to a game she intercepted a pass. It’s fun to identify with a team to feel close to other than a TV screen.”
The Albany team will be the sixth team to join five current franchises listed on the league website. Although that number may grow before the 2018 season kicks off in the spring of 2018.
Butera also mentioned a large fantasy sports company will soon partner with the league and sports betting options going forward.
There are several other competing indoor football leagues around the country, including the Indoor Football League and the fledgling Can-Am Indoor Football League, which will field a first-year team in the Glens Falls Civic Center in the spring of 2018.