Albany

Once the Albany Devils finish their American Hockey League schedule, which they hope will include a long playoff run, Times Union Center will be without a pro sports tenant for the first time in its 27-year existence.

Bob Belber, the arena general manager for the past 23 years, said Monday that he is in discussions with the Arena Football League and National Lacrosse League about putting a team downtown as early as 2018.

When the Devils' planned move to Binghamton for next season was announced in late January, Belber said he was hopeful of finding another pro sports franchise to fill many of the 38 home dates previously occupied by the AHL team.

He has pinpointed the AFL and NLL, leagues that had teams at the arena in the 1990s and early 2000s, respectively.

"We are in light discussions with the AFL," Belber told the Times Union on Monday. "We would like to see an AFL team come back to Albany, as long as it's in the top league. There's been some adjustments to the way that they operate. Player salaries have come down. It's a lot more affordable to own an arena football team at the top level. That's something we are aggressively pursuing at this point."

The AFL's Albany Firebirds operated from 1990 to 2000. Attendance peaked at 12,240 per game in 1995 before dropping to 9,872 in 2000. The Firebirds, citing the need to be in a larger market, moved to Indianapolis.

Indoor lacrosse had a four-year run in what was then Pepsi Arena. The Attack averaged 5,749 their first season and 3,689 their final year — both numbers significantly below the league averages — before finding their way to San Jose, Calif.

"Arena football would make sense," Belber said. "We are leaving the door open for the potential of a lacrosse league team to come in. We would love to see a National Lacrosse League team, and there is some dialogue going on there. All of these are things that we're working on. I don't want to make it sound like they're absolutely going to happen."

Belber was adamant that only the AFL, whose teams are mostly in major markets, will work in Albany. After the Firebirds left, arenafootball2 came in with the Albany Conquest, and, as Belber put it, "The avid Arena Football (League) fans genuinely know the difference in the talent of play."

The Arena Football League is in the midst of a major reshuffling, having lost several teams to the rival Indoor Football League. Only Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Washington are in the current AFL, whose regular season runs from early April to early August.

"The owners that are in the league are expanding out and they're going to own second teams in certain markets," Belber said. "Washington's owner just picked up another team in Baltimore. I understand Tampa may end up expanding into a team in Orlando. Each one of these existing owners are probably going to pick up a second team.

"Newark and the (New Jersey) Devils are in line for a potential team," Belber said, "so we're in some dialogue with the owners of the Devils. We still have a great relationship with them. We may work out a deal with them. At this point, it's too early to tell. I don't want to have any false hopes out there until we actually get a deal done."

In the meantime, the Devils have 10 regular-season games remaining and are in position to make the AHL playoffs, which could extend into June.

After that, the only hockey to be played in the arena will be the annual RPI-Union Mayors Cup game, usually held in January.

"We leave that door (AHL) open," Belber said. "There's not a lot of movement in the AHL, so I don't expect that to happen. We're not going out looking for an ECHL team. I've seen some attendance numbers in other markets that went from AHL to ECHL. There's a dramatic drop in attendance that we've seen."

pdougherty@timesunion.com