First the Edmonton Rush. Now it seems like the Minnesota Swarm have played their last game in the twin cities.
The Minnesota Swarm have had a tumultuous past few years. From letters begging fans to come to games, to the team trading away the majority of their roster, things have not been good in Minnesota.
This past trading deadline they traded away two faces of the team in Logan Schuss and Andrew Suitor. They lost their primary field sponsor, and they fired their entire coaching staff. Even if the team was going to stay, they need a massive rebuilding effort. And it feels like that rebuilding has already been attempted for years now; they’ve traded for every draft pick under the sun and have dealt players like Aaron Wilson, Ryan Benesch, Tyler Hass, Evan Kirk, and more.
So where could the Swarm go, if they are indeed moving? The reports have mentioned Milwaukee and Florida (likely Tampa Bay), but some sources have also mentioned Nashville. Rumor has it the Nashville Predators have been in the market to buy a lacrosse team. Multiple sources have discussed Nashville to ILWT for most of the past NLL season.
WCCO (an affiliate of CBS in Minnesota) recently published the fact the Swarm have not sent out renewal plans for season ticket holders and they have ended the junior Swarm box lacrosse program. The owners, John Arlotta and his son, Andy Arlotta (also the general manager) were not available for comment.
The report in WCCO stated that if the Swarm cannot sell, they will fold the franchise. Milwaukee would be close by and even retain some of their fanbase, but they have some arena issues. Tampa Bay has a nice arena with NHL and AFL tenants, but the NLL has failed in Florida before. Nashville has been rumored to want a team for about three years now and has been brought up multiple times.
The future of the Swarm is up in the air and no one has officially commented on it. However, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Minnesota have issues, so the straw to break the camel’s back might have already happened.
