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ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Late Tuesday night, Albany city commissioners approved a contract with a new arena football team. The Albany Panthers will replace the South Georgia Wildcats. They'll play the same brand of arena football at the Albany Civic Center, but it will be a different league.
The deal will actually cost less than the city already had budgeted for the Wildcats. It's a five-year agreement, though the deal for concessions at the Civic Center is just 18 months, so city leaders can change it if doesn't work. That deal calls for the city to get 20% of gross revenue from concessions. That wasn't the case with the Wildcats.
City leaders say it's important to have a professional sports team in Albany. "It's a quality of life issue that we're the community in southwest Georgia that can have a team. It kind of puts us on a pedestal of sorts, something that we can be proud of," said Albany Assistant City Manager Wes Smith.
The Panthers will begin play in March in the 9-team Southern Indoor Football League. The league has two other teams in Georgia, in Columbus and Augusta.
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