ALBANY — Arena football might be making a return to the Times Union Center, the arena's general manager said Monday.

During a Monday celebration of the 30th anniversary of the facility, GM Bob Belber said he was in “current talks about possibly bringing an arena football team back.”

Arena football has been a popular attraction at the Times Union Center, but the last team to play there, the Albany Empire, disappeared when the Arena Football League announced on Nov. 27 that it was ceasing operations and filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, who also attended the event, was less optimistic about the prospects of bringing a local football team back to the arena.

“The problem is when the Empire folded, it’s out of our control,” McCoy said. “It took off here, there is a market for here but there’s not a market for (it in) other places, so I don’t foresee in the future that ever coming back.”

In a subsequent phone interview, Belber cautioned the negotiations were far from complete.

“I stress that it’s not a done deal,” he said. “It’s something that is strictly in dialogue at this point. If the public has that same burning desire that I do, I’d love to have them voice that interest. That will only help the local owners with their decision as to whether they would go forward or not.”

There are two other arena leagues in existence: the Indoor Football League, which has 13 teams mostly in the Midwest and on the West Coast, and the National Arena League, a seven-team circuit whose franchises mostly are along the Eastern seaboard.

The now-defunct AFL generally was considered to have the best players and paid the highest salaries among the indoor leagues.

“There are a couple of arena football leagues that are out there” Belber said. “Because of the AFL’s ceasing of operations, many of those players that were on the AFL teams competing are now playing in either the IFL or the NAL. The caliber of play in the other two leagues has risen greatly.

“I’ve had some dialogue with the local owners of the Albany Empire," he added. "I’ve recommended heavily that perhaps there could be some discussions with the Empire coach and quarterback and some of the players for the possibility of them coming back together — as many as possible — to play in one of the other two leagues.”

The city has had two successful stints as part of the AFL. The Albany Firebirds existed from 1990 to 2000, averaging 11,222 fans per game and winning the Arena Bowl championship in 1999 at the arena. The AFL re-emerged in the city in 2018 as the Albany Empire, boasting the league’s top record and attendance (9,870) both seasons and winning the league title again in August.

“Just imagine what it would be like if you more or less could keep the whole team playing on a team in one of those other two leagues,” Belber said. “Those players that the fans have grown to love and supported when they were here, and competed in and won the Arena Bowl — imagine how cool it could be if that team for the most part collectively could play or continue to play, perhaps even under the same name, depending on whether that’s available to do so.

"People would support them," he said. "People would love to continue to see Arena football in this market.”

Belber said any possibility of indoor football returning to the facility would happen until 2021 at the earliest. The indoor leagues are played in the spring and summer.