Albany Empire & Arena League Push Back Start Of Season

We have seen this story play out way to many times, and hate to see it again.

We have COVID fatigue, and we are just plain tired of it dictating our social lives and the events we are missing out on. Unfortunately, that trend continues. According to the Times Union the National Arena League, which includes the recently reformed Albany Empire, will be cutting its season short by 6 games and is pushing back the start of the spring season. The Empire will now get things going at the Times Union Center May 22nd against the Ontario Bandits. The original 14 game schedule was supposed to kick off in early April. All arena league teams will now play an 8 game regular season which will be followed by a 3 week playoff that starts in late July.

When the Buffalo Bills started hosting fans at their playoff games last month hope went sky high that fewer of our cherished sporting and concert events would be postponed in the future. But, one has to wonder if the advanced protocols and testing necessary to make those games happen with fans could be tougher to execute in a smaller setting like the TU Center. The Times Union story says that a "restricted-capacity model with social-distancing protocols will be in place" for games and even with a capacity of 3,500, the team could still "break-even" on games. But, the league said they delayed the season with the fans in mind, so maybe they are wondering if all the details of creating a safe event could affect the overall experience. In the long run, could all the COVID requirements take the usual fun out of a game?

Maybe waiting 7 more weeks for arena football will be worth it in the long run so we can cheer, high five and get into those Albany Empire games like we are sued to.