Defending Arena Bowl Champions Come to Everett: Washington Wolfpack Host Albany Firebirds May 2

Quick answer: The Washington Wolfpack host the defending Arena Bowl champion Albany Firebirds on Saturday, May 2 at 3:00 PM at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett. It’s Week 4 of the Arena Football One season and the biggest home game on the Wolfpack’s 2026 schedule. Albany went a perfect 10-0 last season and beat Nashville 60-57 to win the Arena Crown. This is the test game for Washington’s AF1 ambitions.

Yes, There’s Professional Arena Football in Everett

If you missed it — and a lot of Everett people did — the Washington Wolfpack are the newest pro sports franchise in Snohomish County. They play at Angel of the Winds Arena. They’re in Arena Football One, the revived league that picked up where the original AFL left off. And on Saturday, May 2 at 3:00 PM, they host the team that just won the whole thing last year.

The Albany Firebirds went 10-0 in the 2025 AF1 regular season. Ten and zero. They then beat the Nashville Kats 60-57 in Arena Crown 2025 to take the championship. A perfect season ending in a three-point championship win is the kind of story that normally produces a swagger-heavy title defense. Albany is bringing that swagger into Everett in two weeks.

Why You Should Care About Arena Football

Arena football is the most fan-forward version of football that exists. The field is 50 yards long. The walls are padded. Players bounce off the boards. Scoring is relentless — most AF1 games finish in the 50-60 point range per team. If you’ve only watched outdoor football, the first thing you notice is how close you are to the action. The second thing is how much scoring there is. The third thing is the crowd. AF1 games are loud in a way that football at Lumen or Husky Stadium simply isn’t, because the crowd is right on top of the field.

Angel of the Winds Arena for a Wolfpack game is a different building than Angel of the Winds Arena for a Silvertips game. Same seats, same layout — totally different feel. Touchdowns every two minutes. A scoreboard that can’t keep up. Kids running wild on the concourse during timeouts. It’s a legitimately great afternoon.

The Wolfpack’s 2026 Home Schedule

April 12 — Home Opener vs. Oregon Lightning (already played)
May 2, 3:00 PM — vs. Albany Firebirds (defending champions)
May 23, 3:00 PM — vs. Beaumont Renegades
June 20 — vs. Oregon Lightning
June 27 — vs. Michigan Arsenal
July 3 — vs. Nashville Kats

Six home games across fifteen weeks. A home-and-home with Oregon. A back-to-back-to-back Weeks 11-13 that includes a July 3 game against Nashville — the team Albany beat in last year’s championship — the night before Independence Day. That’s a pretty smart schedule from the Wolfpack front office.

What the Albany Game Tells Us About the Wolfpack

Washington is a second-year franchise. The 2025 season was about establishing the product. 2026 is about building a real football team. Playing the defending champion Firebirds in Week 4 at home, in front of a crowd that is going to be a lot bigger than the season opener, is going to tell the front office exactly where the gap is.

If the Wolfpack can keep this close — say, within a touchdown or two in the fourth quarter — that’s a signal that Washington is on a playoff-contention path in 2026. If Albany runs away, we’ll know this team needs one more offseason. Either way, it’s the most meaningful Saturday afternoon on the calendar for the franchise.

Tickets, Parking, and the Fan Experience

Tickets for Wolfpack games have been some of the best-value pro sports tickets in Snohomish County. Single-game seats can be found in the low $20s with family packs available through the Wolfpack ticket office at washingtonwolfpack.com. Angel of the Winds Arena parking is $15-20 in the attached garage and there’s ample street parking within a five-minute walk on weekend afternoons.

Gates open 90 minutes before kickoff. There’s a full tailgate-style experience outside the arena on event afternoons, and concessions inside include most of the Angel of the Winds full menu. Bring kids. This league is explicitly designed for family attendance, and the Wolfpack have leaned into that from Day 1.

Fox 13+ Broadcast

If you can’t get to the arena, Fox 13+ is broadcasting every Wolfpack game locally in 2026. That partnership alone is a big deal for a year-two franchise — it means your neighbor who won’t buy a ticket still has the chance to become a fan from the couch. Check your local listings for game-day channel information.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do the Washington Wolfpack host Albany?

Saturday, May 2 at 3:00 PM at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett.

Why does the Albany Firebirds game matter?

Albany is the defending Arena Crown champion. They finished the 2025 AF1 regular season 10-0 and beat the Nashville Kats 60-57 in the championship game. This is a test game for the Wolfpack’s 2026 ambitions.

Where can I buy Wolfpack tickets?

Tickets are available at washingtonwolfpack.com, through Ticketmaster, and at the Angel of the Winds Arena box office. Single-game prices start in the low $20s.

How do the Wolfpack games differ from Silvertips games?

The arena is reconfigured for arena football. The field is 50 yards long instead of 100, the walls are padded, and play is significantly faster with far more scoring. It’s the same building but a completely different atmosphere.