The War Room Tavern in Albany
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Todd Shapiro, owner of the War Room Tavern in Albany, has asked the National Arena League (NAL) to reinstate the Albany Empire. He’s also offered to help raise the money the Empire reportedly failed to pay the NAL.
On June 15, the NAL terminated the Empire’s membership due to team’s failure to pay overdue league mandated assessments. Because of this, the rest of the Empire season was canceled, leaving Albany without an arena football team.
According to a press release, Shapiro said the termination damaged both local businesses and the city’s civic pride. He offered to help raise the $21,000 that the Empire reportedly owes. He said that the War Room’s sales increase by about 20% on game days and Empire players visited the tavern often.
“Not only do professional sports bring a sense of camaraderie and identity to a community, local businesses like ours depend on the foot traffic and energy that the Empire brings to downtown,” said Shapiro. “There’s no question, not having the team at the MVP Center will definitely hurt our bottom line.”
This was a tumultuous season for the Albany Empire with seven-time Pro-Bowler Antonio Brown taking over majority ownership of the team. The Empire saw many change-ups with coaching, players and other front office departures. This came after former head coach Tom Menas led the team to back-to-back NAL championships in 2021 and 2022.
What’s next for the Empire is they don’t get reinstated by the NAL? In a text message to NEWS10 Sports Director Griffin Haas, MVP Arena general manager Bob Belber wrote, “We will have a team in 2024.” Belber went on to say they are already receiving interest from leagues and teams looking to come to Albany.