The team's original ownership group was headed by Joe O'Hara, owner of the Continental Basketball Association's Albany Patroons, who would later become the AFL's second commissioner.

After getting off the phone with Foster while in Boston, he happened to see a Pontiac Firebird driving down the highway and decided to go with that name.

However, they finished the season winning eight of their last eleven games and were considered by some a potential contender for the 2005 Arena Bowl championship led by 2004 Rookie of the Year quarterback Zachary Paget.

Lageschulte had been actively, but unsuccessfully, pursuing local investors to purchase the Firebirds since he had assumed ownership in 2002.

The former Firebirds players were made available in the dispersal draft conducted on October 14, 2004, marking the end of one of the AFL's longest-running franchises.

[5] Multiple reports in late September 2023 indicated that a team bearing the Albany Firebirds brand would play in the 2024 season.