Antonio Brown’s tenure as a majority owner in the National Arena League with the Albany Empire has come to an end.
The league announced Thursday in a statement that it is severing the franchise’s membership because it failed to pay its “league and overdue assessments.” Per NAL rules, each team is required to pay one-seventh of the league’s operating budget, a process that began in April.
Thursday’s news comes a day after the former NFL star told reporters that it would be the Empire’s last season playing in the NAL and that the team was planning to join the Arena Football League, which plans to relaunch in 2024 after filing for bankruptcy in 2019. Since Brown joined the team’s ownership in March, reports surfaced that multiple players and team staff members were not paid and several players were released. Even more, the Empire (1–6) have also employed four different coaches throughout the season.
