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Philadelphia Soul helping Arena Football League expand to Albany, N.Y.

The team will play in Albany, N.Y. in 2018.

Soul ownership partner Dick Vermeil and majority owner Ron Jaworski celebrate after the Soul beat the Tampa Bay Storm 44-40 to win the Arena Bowl.
Soul ownership partner Dick Vermeil and majority owner Ron Jaworski celebrate after the Soul beat the Tampa Bay Storm 44-40 to win the Arena Bowl.Read more(Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)

The Philadelphia Soul are helping bring a sixth franchise to the Arena Football League, but it won't be in the city the team calls home.

Instead, the Soul are helping to bring Arena Football back to Albany, N.Y., according to a report from the Albany Times Union.

The Soul's ownership group, which is led by former Eagles quarterback and current ESPN football analyst Ron Jaworski, is combining with Albany business men to field a team in the city's Times Union Center in 2018.

Soul president John Adams will serve as the president of a new company called Trifecta Sports and Entertainment, which will oversee the business operations for both teams.

The football operations, however, will be run separately.

Having two teams run by the same ownership group is not unprecedented for the AFL, as the league's Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade are both owned by Ted Leonsis' Monumental Sports and Entertainment.

It also won't be the first time Albany has had an Arena Football franchise, as New York's state capitol fielded one from 1990-2000 before the team left for Indianapolis.

Having a team in Albany is beneficial for the Soul, as it adds another potential rival that is within close proximity to Philadelphia. The furthest the Soul had to travel for a game last season was Tampa, Fla. to play the Storm.

Their other road contests were in Cleveland, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

According to the Times Union, there is a possibility of a seventh team being added in Newark, N.J.