Antonio Brown is making headlines again. This time it is because Brown’s arena football team Albany Empire has been kicked out of National Arena League for failing to pay “their league-mandated and overdue assessments”.
NAL officially announced its decision on Thursday while confirming that Brown also didn’t pay a $1,000 fine he recently received for negative public comments.
According to NAL’s official statement, Brown made the initial payment for Empire’s assessments in April. All the teams need to contribute assessments on a monthly basis to cover the cost of the league.
However, Brown then missed a payment in May and challenged April’s payment, which ended up being credited back to his account. After communicating with Brown’s accountant, the league officials were notified that “it didn’t seem like Mr. Brown was going to pay the assessment or fine.”
NAL then gave Empire a deadline of Thursday to fulfill its financial obligations.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Brown has failed to meet the deadline to his team’s required financial obligations, and as a result, the league has terminated his membership Agreement,” said the league in a statement.
Antonio Brown joined Albany Empire’s ownership group this past March before acquiring a major stake in the team a month later. At the time, Empire was considered the strongest team in NAL, coming off back-to-back championships.
However, Empire’s 2023 season has been disappointing, with the team going through multiple coaches and quarterbacks. Also, Brown never played a single game for the team despite making a promise to fans that he’ll do so.
