Firebirds confident despite AFL’s shaky start

UPDATE (5/14/24, 8:00 AM): The Albany Firebirds have scheduled new opponents for their games on May 19 and May 24 . According to members of the organization, the Firebirds will play the Southwest Kansas Storm on May 19 at 1:00 PM. They will then play the West Texas Desert Hawks on Friday, May 24 at 7:00 pm.

ALBANY, NY ( NEWS10 ) — Three weeks into the Arena Football League schedule, the Albany Firebirds are sitting pretty in the standings at 2-0. As far as the league is concerned, that’s a much different story. The league is on shaky ground, and while the Firebirds aren’t the problem, they’re feeling the effects.

The Firebirds were supposed to play the Minnesota Myth Monday night at MVP Arena. The game was canceled after the Myth couldn’t make the trip. On Monday, Minnesota Myth co-owner and team president Diana Hutton sent an email to staff and players saying the team is stopping operations. The team’s other co-owner is Hutton’s husband, and the commissioner of the AFL, Lee Hutton.

Lee Hutton and the league were also operating the Philadelphia Soul. They also will not finish the season, suspending operations until 2025. The Firebirds were supposed to play the Soul this upcoming Sunday, but that game has been canceled. They were supposed to play the Myth again on May 25, but that game is also off.

The Soul and the Myth are among four of the 16 AFL teams that have either suspended or ceased operations. Additionally, the Rapid City Marshals refused to take the field against the Billings Outlaws this past weekend, citing lack of payment. The AFL also entered the season with a deal with the NFL Network to air some of the league’s games. The NFL Network canceled that agreement.

NEWS10 spoke with Firebirds team president Jeff Levack on Monday. Despite the issues facing the league, the Firebirds are very confident about keeping arena football in Albany, thanks to owners Mike Kwarta, Andy Guelcher, and Rich Szesnat. “The good thing we’ve got now is super strong leadership,” said Levack. “With three local owners, you’ve got somebody to focus on everything. Mike Kwarta has been working with like-minded owners, with anyone in the league who will listen. As soon as it started becoming an issue, he was putting in backchannels to try to make sure we were going to be okay. Very confident that we’ve got leadership in place that’ll get us where we need to be. These are all local guys. These are all people who care about this community.”

“We put together an organization that I feel can withstand just about anything and we will,” said Levack. “There’s more football to be played. That’s for sure. I really, really, really feel like we’re very close to making some very positive announcements.”

Stick with NEWS10 for updates as the season unfolds.

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