Swarm lacrosse team moving to Atlanta

May 30, 2015 at 4:23AM
Swarm fans attend a game in 2012.
Swarm fans attend a game in 2012. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Minnesota Swarm lacrosse team, which announced last week it is leaving town, will relocate to Georgia.

The team will play at the Gwinnett Center, which is north of Atlanta and currently home to a minor-league hockey franchise.

The news was reported early Friday morning by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and there is a press release on the team's web site.

In a press release on the team web site, Swarm owner John Arlotta said: "The sport of lacrosse is growing at a rapid pace in Georgia and we're thrilled to bring the fastest game on two feet at the professional level to The Arena at Gwinnett Center."

Last week, Arlotta said the team was leaving the Twin Cities because of difficulty negotiating a lease at the Xcel Energy Center, trouble competing with other local teams and a diminishing season-ticket base.

"We have to be on a forward trajectory," Arlotta said in that story, adding: "We need to find an arena that works better for an individual owner."

The team had played in Minnesota since 2004.

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