John J. Arlotta, the new owner of the National Lacrosse League’s Minnesota Swarm, told Sports Headliners that the local franchise has never been profitable and won’t be for a few seasons. He regards the Swarm, who start a fifth season next January, as a start-up business requiring time to become profitable.
Arlotta praised Minnesota Sports and Entertainment (the former ownership group that operates the Minnesota Wild) for building a “foundation.” His goal is to find more customers and field a better team.
He will employ a full time ticket sales staff, instead of part time as in the past. The Swarm averaged 11,000 fans per game last season and will target new customers including college students who will have an upper level seating area in Xcel Energy Center. Another idea is to target small business owners with affordable suite options.
“I feel pretty good about where we’re at,” Arlotta said. “I anticipate making money within a few years, or at least breaking even.”
The Swarm has never gone beyond the first round of the playoffs, although they have had front office personnel and others recognized recognized including team captain Ryan Cousins who scored nine goals and 14 points in 16 games last season on his way to a second straight NLL Defensive Player of the Year award. Two of his nine goals were game-winners in overtime. Arlotta wants to “enhance” scouting, evaluate more players and add additional Americans to the roster (league personnel is heavy with Canadians).
Arlotta wouldn’t say how much he paid for the team but media reports valued the recently purchased Rochester, New York club at $5.5 million. Without being specific, he projected losses for next season to be in the “six figure range.”
His view is that the Minneapolis-St. Paul lacrosse market is “ready to explode.” He quoted research that ranks Minnesota as the seventh fastest growth state for youth soccer. High school programs, for example, are growing in popularity. He also said college students, who haven’t been marketed to here, love the game. He said except for Boston, this metro area has more college students than any other.
The local love affair with hockey is a plus, too, Arlotta said. Lacrosse and hockey are cross-over sports that draw people interested in playing and watching both. Opinion and data aside, Arlotta will know from observation when and if lacrosse is booming here. “The ultimate gauge is watching lots of kids walking with sticks and flipping the ball,” he said.
New Wild owner Craig Leipold is a friend who knew of Arlotta’s interest in lacrosse and suggested he buy the Swarm franchise. Although he’s never formally played the sport, Arlotta, 59, was asked to play club lacrosse as a student at Notre Dame. He regrets declining the invitation. Several years ago while living in Baltimore he became a lacrosse fan watching national power Johns Hopkins University. More recently he and wife Bobbie, who played high school lacrosse, provided the lead gift of $5 million for a new men’s and women’s lacrosse stadium at Notre Dame.
Arlotta is the former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Coram Inc., a privately held provider of home infusion and specialty pharmacy services. Told that while his business accomplishments hadn’t earned him a bio on Wikipedia but that success with the Swam might, Arlotta replied, “Man, maybe that’s what I should be striving for.”