The National Arena League has officially kicked former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown and his Albany Empire arena football team out of the league.

Brown became majority owner of the NAL’s Albany Empire in March 2023, and less than three months later, the franchise is now out of the league.

“After exhausting all avenues, the NAL board of owners have decided unanimously to terminate the membership agreement of the Albany Empire,” the league said in a press release. “The decision was reached after an emergency conference call of the members in good standing to discuss the Empire’s failure to pay their league mandated and overdue assessments.”

The decision stems from Brown’s unwillingness to pay his share of the league’s operating fees and refusal to pay a $1,000 fine for “Conduct Detrimental to the League.”

All seven NAL teams are responsible for paying 1/7 of the league’s budget via a monthly assessment. Brown initially paid the Empire’s April assessment but failed to pay in May. After the missed payment, Brown’s team challenged the April assessment, and the league credited that payment back to the former Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout.

The other six National Arena League teams and the league’s leadership discussed the situation via conference call and gave Brown until Thursday at noon to make his payments. Brown and his franchise “failed to meet the deadline to his team's required financial obligations, and as a result, the league has terminated his membership Agreement.”

The Albany Empire vs. Jacksonville Sharks game scheduled for June 17 is now canceled. The league says it will be “adjusting the rest of the 2023 regular season schedule and will announce the updated schedule in the near future.”

Antonio Brown’s team got the boot amid rumors that he would suit up and play for the Empire at the game against the Sharks. However, Brown had promised this before in previous games but has yet to play in the league.