Arena Football League fans and personnel may find their Thanksgiving turkey a little harder to digest this year.

In an announcement that was anticipated, though the pre-holiday timing was somewhat discomforting, the AFL released a statement Wednesday afternoon, indicating that it is ceasing operations immediately and has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

Most followers of the indoor football league, which was formed in 1987, expected this outcome, once the AFL 30 days earlier shut down its six member clubs, including the Albany Empire.

The Empire were in the league for two years, leading the league in attendance both seasons with nearly 10,000 per game at Times Union Center and winning the Arena Bowl championship in August.

“You can always tell how these things are going when you don’t hear from the league office," Empire coach Rob Keefe said Wednesday. "Such in any business, when the lines of communication are cut, you can foresee what’s going to happen.”

In a story first reported by the Times Union, the league decided Oct. 28 to close the business operations of its six franchises. In addition to Albany, the AFL had teams in Atlantic City, N.J., Baltimore, Columbus, Ohio, Philadelphia and Washington.

A $2.4 million lawsuit filed against the league by an insurance carrier that provided workers compensation coverage between 2009 and 2012 — before the current administration was involved — caused the AFL to re-evaluate its business model.

Commissioner Randall Boe said the AFL was considering a touring league, similar to the Premier Lacrosse League, as a way to save money. Ultimately, what the league needed was additional investors, and they did not emerge.

"We're all disappointed that we couldn't find a way forward, and we wanted to thank our fans, our players, coaches, everyone who loved the Arena Football League," Boe said in a statement. "We all love the game and tried very hard to make it successful, but we simply weren't able to raise the capital necessary to grow the league, resolve our substantial legacy liabilities and make it financially viable."

The Empire had taken deposits on 2020 season tickets before the October announcement. Full refunds are expected to be delivered.

"We have been in dialogue with the ownership of the Albany Empire," Times Union Center general manager Bob Belber said, "and at their request are going to be issuing refunds to all of the season ticket holders over the next week. Those that bought tickets and put out money, the team took in all that money, and that money has been returned to our box office and is available for us to issue refunds."

The highlight of the Empire's two-year run came Aug. 11, when they won ArenaBowl XXXII by beating the Philadelphia Soul 45-28 in front of 12,042 at Times Union Center. It was the city's second AFL title. The Albany Firebirds, who were in the league from 1990 to 2000, won the 1999 Arena Bowl.

Less than three months after the championship, the Empire are gone without a ring ceremony or banner raising.

“That’s one of the first things that I said," Keefe said. "I feel bad there’s not going to be a ring ceremony and a banner unveiling and a presentation at our first home game, where all the fans get to celebrate with the players for what we accomplished. Just like we had ‘Unfinished Business’ last year, it was going to be a new motto, the Empire defending the crown. It’s an unfortunate situation.”

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Keefe said he would be exploring the NFL and CFL, as well as the collegiate ranks, for his next coaching job.

“I feel bad for the players," he said. "With the Arena Football League folding, opportunity is lost. There are only so many players that can be on the field. There are only so many players in the CFL. There’s only so many players that can play in the XFL. Hopefully some of them get opportunities in those leagues, which pay a really good wage.

"Then there are some lower levels of indoor football, such as the IFL (Indoor Football League) and NAL (National Arena League). They don’t pay as well as the Arena Football League, but it will be interesting to see how they take advantage of the folding of the AFL."

Belber said the Empire were entering the final season of a three-year contract with Times Union Center. He said the arena would not try to enforce the unfinished part of the pact.

"We’re as disappointed in the league discontinuing as everyone else," Belber said. "The first suspension of the league back in October was a huge surprise to us. I was in Nashville at a convention when someone showed me the Times Union story online. It was hoped that they would have found a way to keep it going since then. As you could see, apparently they couldn’t.

"In the meantime, over the last few weeks, I have been in discussions with a couple of other sport team scenarios. I can't say yet what sports, and I can't say that we would have something ready for the spring. We're working on having another team. I don’t believe it’s going to be football, I believe it’s going to be another sport. Anything we potentially bring in is subject to approval by the county."

pdougherty@timesunion.com ■ 518-454-5416 ■ @Pete_Dougherty