Antonio Brown's arena football team kicked out of league after missing payments

BOSTON -- Antonio Brown still owns the Albany Empire. But his arena football team is no longer part of a league.

That's because the Empire was given the boot from the National Arena League on Thursday, after Brown didn't make payments that he owed to the league.

"After exhausting all avenues, the NAL board of owners have decided unanimously to terminate the membership agreement of the Albany Empire," the league said in a statement.

The seven teams in the NAL are responsible for paying one-seventh of the league's operating budget, and Brown was behind on two payments. He also refused to pay a $1,000 fine that he was assessed for comments that he made about the league.

Brown and the team were given until noon on Thursday to make the payments, but failed to do so.  

"Unfortunately Mr. Brown has failed to meet the deadline to his teams required financial obligations, and as a result the league has terminated his membership Agreement," the league said.

Now the Empire, which had won back-to-back NAL titles, are a team with no league. 

Brown, who made over $80 million over his 12-year career in the NFL, has been in the news a lot over refusing to pay people. In April, he was sued by a jeweler who claimed Brown owned them over $1 million. He was also sued by his marketing company in 2021 for $2.4 million for commissions on $2.4 million in endorsement deals.