AB’s accountant reacts after NAL cuts ties with Empire: ‘We were up to paying them for sure’

Antonio Brown’s accountant, Alex Gunaris, says Antonio’s main goal for becoming owner of the Albany Empire was to help kids.

“He wants to put them on the football field, help them get on TV, or get in front of an NFL scout, and get them to the NFL. That’s his number one goal,” he said.

But that goal has not been an easy one. Since Brown’s taken ownership the team’s been plagued with one issue after the other, with finances being the center of it all.

Gunaris says the National Arena League gave them a noon deadline on Thursday to pay a little over $20,000. He says they would have paid it, but first they wanted the league to provide them with information that other teams were paying these same fees.

“We were up to paying them for sure. We would love to operate for the rest of the season, but just some of the details,” Gunaris said. “I got the league’s budget. So I’m aware of what the amount would be used for. We just wanted clarification on have other teams paid, are they on time, and verify that they paid the amounts that we’re being told to pay.”

This questioning comes after Gunaris says Brown was told he had to pay $1.5 million for workers’ compensation. Gunaris calculates that’s a 15,609% markup over the normal premium. It’s a price he says AB was stuck with because of mishandling from previous owners.

“The state of New York charged us $1.5 million for a workers’ compensation policy, so from a business perspective that’s over double of what our revenue is,” he said.

Gunaris says Brown paid the $1.5 million because he wanted to do something positive for the community and help kids.

Brown was not available for comment. Gunaris says Brown is disappointed with the league’s decision to kick the Empire out of the NAL.