Antonio Brown breaks silence after WR’s franchise gets kicked out of Arena League-“Major league not minors”

Antonio Brown bought a stake in the National Arena League's Albany Empire earlier this year and since then it has just been one tumultuous event after another. All of that came to a head on Thursday afternoon as the Empire was dismissed from the National Arena League.

Brown immediately took to Twitter after the news of his team's departure from the National Arena League was announced.

"Major league not minors."

Antonio Brown recently said that this would be the Albany Empire's last season in the National Arena League and that he would be moving the team to the Arena Football League. He stated at the time that he had enough money to move the team into the other league, unlike other team owners.

This comes after months of turmoil within the organization, including the firing of two head coaches, player suspensions and players not being paid. Last month, Antonio Brown announced that he would play a home game with the Empire, which increased ticket sales.

He then reported that he had failed a physical and was unable to play in the game. Clearly, this story is far from over and it will be illuminating to see what is next for the former NFL wide receiver and his team.

Why did the NAL kick Antonio Brown's Albany Empire out?

On Thursday afternoon, the National Arena League announced that the Albany Empire had been kicked out of the league. This apparently came after an emergency conference call took place due to the former NFL wide receiver's actions.

Each team in the league is responsible for paying 1/7 of the operating budget for the NAL. Each month the teams pay the designated amount, and the Empire paid their dues for April but nothing since.

Antonio Brown had previously asked that all communication go through his lawyer. So, when the dues weren't paid in May, the league contacted his lawyer. At that time, the April payment had been declined. The lawyer told the league that his client had no intention of paying the monthly dues.

The league set a deadline of 12:00 p.m. on June 15, 2023, for the Empire's payments to be received. After that deadline, the remaining members of the league had an emergency call and voted to dismiss the team effective immediately.