The National Lacrosse League (NLL), North America's professional indoor lacrosse league, introduced John J. Arlotta as the new owner of the league's Minnesota Swarm franchise at a press conference held on Wednesday, July 16th at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.

Arlotta purchased the franchise from Minnesota Sports & Entertainment (MSE), owners of the franchise for its first four seasons in the NLL. MSE owns and operates the NHL's Minnesota Wild and Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul among its properties. The sale price was not disclosed. Last month, the league's franchise in Rochester, New York (Rochester Knighthawks) was purchased by Canadian businessman Curt Styres for $5.575 million USD.

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. Prior to Coram, he served as Chairman, President and CEO of NeighborCare Inc. Arlotta joined NeighborCare in July 2003, and took the company public in December of that year. From 1995 to 2000, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Caremark Rx as well as the President of Caremark's specialty biotech drug distribution business. He started his health care career in 1971 at Chicago-based Baxter International.

"I am truly excited to officially take over the ownership of the Minnesota Swarm franchise, and I want to thank my good friend (MSE majority owner) Craig Leipold for giving me this opportunity," said Arlotta. "The Swarm has made great strides both on and off the field in its first four seasons in the National Lacrosse League and I look forward to helping the organization achieve the ultimate goal of bringing a championship team to Minnesota."

"We are pleased to introduce John Arlotta as our newest team owner in the National Lacrosse League," said NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings. "John is an incredibly successful businessman and has a great passion for lacrosse. We could not ask for a better combination in a new owner, and we welcome John and his family to the NLL."

Arlotta is a 1971 graduate of the University of Notre Dame who majored in marketing. Arlotta and his wife, Bobbie, pledged the lead gift toward a new $5 million lacrosse stadium to be built for the University of Notre Dame's men's and women's lacrosse teams in June of 2007. Groundbreaking ceremonies for Arlotta Stadium were held on April 18, 2008.

Arlotta's son, Andy, will be a part owner and will join the Swarm on a full-time basis. He will be involved in a number of aspects of the business, including sales and sponsor relations. He has spent the last 10 years working in the healthcare industry, most recently as National Account Manager at Managed Healthcare Associates, a group purchasing organization for specialty pharmacies.

MSE purchased an NLL franchise on August 10, 2004 and the Swarm began play in the 2005 season at the Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota recently completed its fourth campaign and set franchise records with 10 wins and an average attendance of 11,405 fans per game while advancing to the playoffs for the third straight time.

MSE announced on May 14 that a letter of intent was signed to sell the team to John J. Arlotta. The Minnesota Swarm will continue to play its home games at the Xcel Energy Center and MSE will also continue to support and provide certain business services. The Swarm will begin their fifth season in the NLL in January 2009.

About the National Lacrosse League:

The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is North America's professional indoor lacrosse league, featuring the best lacrosse players in the world. Founded in 1987, the league recently completed its 22nd season of pro indoor lacrosse. Average attendance for the 2008 season was over 10,000 fans per game, with several games played in front of crowds in excess of 16,000 fans. The NLL has twelve teams playing in major markets of the United States and Canada: Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Chicago Shamrox, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, Minnesota Swarm, New York Titans, Philadelphia Wings, Portland LumberJax, Rochester Knighthawks, San Jose Stealth and Toronto Rock. The league expands to New England this season when the Boston Blazers begin play in 2009.

Several NLL clubs are owned and/or operated by the National Hockey League (NHL) and/or National Basketball Association (NBA) teams in their respective markets, and play in the same arenas used by those teams. Teams each play a 16-game regular season schedule followed by the Champion's Cup Playoffs. All games are played on weekends. Professional indoor lacrosse combines the physical play of hockey with the high scoring, fast pace and play-making style of basketball. Indoor lacrosse is played inside the confines of a NHL hockey rink, with glass and rink boards intact. The playing surface consists of a green turf carpet that is laid down over the hockey ice. The two teams combine to score an average of 25 goals in an NLL game.

The league uses a host of media platforms in broadcasting its games. ESPN, NBC and VERSUS are among the networks that have aired NLL games on national television over the past three seasons, as well as The Score and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada. Games also air on leading regional sports networks including Comcast Sportsnet, Time Warner Sports Network and Altitude. The league also broadcast games outside of North America for the first time last season on Eurosport2, an international sports network that reaches more than 50 countries worldwide. SIRIUS Satellite Radio airs a live NLL Game of the Week and a weekly one-hour NLL talk show hosted by lacrosse icon Casey Powell.

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