As Rumors Swirl, Owner Quiet On Swarm's Future

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minnesota Swarm, the state's professional lacrosse team -- which plays its home games at the Xcel Energy Center -- has not offered renewals to its season ticket holders for next season, and also appears to have ended its Junior Swarm box lacrosse program.

For weeks, there has been speculation that team owner John Arlotta, who bought the Swarm from Wild owner Craig Leipold in 2008, has been looking to sell the team or move it -- Milwaukee is one rumored destination, Florida another -- or will simply close up shop and fold it.

When contacted by WCCO and asked to address the rumors about the team's future, a team spokesman said Arlotta was "currently unavailable to speak due to work commitments."

The team's official Facebook page has been inundated with comments from fans wondering and speculating about the team's future in Minnesota, mentioning the rampant rumors and questioning why Arlotta has not addressed them.

After the team's season ended on May 3, a prominent fan website, Swarm It Up -- run by Swarm devotee John Hoffman -- made mention of the rumors, writing, "The Minnesota Swarm finished their 11th season and hopefully not their last" in the National Lacrosse League.

On May 4, the day after the regular season ended with the Swarm missing the playoffs, the team fired head coach and associate general manager Joe Sullivan, as well as assistant coaches Aime Caines and Rory McDade. A spokesman said Arlotta's top Swarm priority was finding the team's new head coach.

The Swarm were fifth in the nine-team league in attendance this past season, averaging 8,699 tickets sold per game, which was close to the league average. It was a strong improvement over the team's 2014 attendance, which averaged 7,457 fans per game.

But it was also nearly identical to the team's average attendance in 2013, a season after which Arlotta posted "A letter to Swarm fans" on the team's website in which he said the Swarm, in the time he'd owned it, had experienced "tremendous financial losses that are not sustainable over another five years of ownership," and pleaded with fans to "help us" recruit more season ticket holders.

WCCO requested a copy of the team's lease from the Xcel Energy Center, but was denied.

"As a privately operated business, as a matter of policy, we do not share the terms of our lease agreements," the Saint Paul Arena Company, which operates the arena, said in a statement.