Chicago Shamrox

National Lacrosse League (2007-2008)

Background

“This is the best thing I’ve done for Chicago since drafting Michael Jordan in 1984.” – former Chicago Bulls Head Coach Kevin Loughery Sr., on bringing a National Lacrosse League expansion franchise to Chicago.

The birth of a pro sports franchise calls for a heavy dose of hyperbole and NBA veteran Loughery went all in by invoking the J-word when announcing the launch of the Chicago Shamrox in February 2006.  Safe to say the feeling didn’t last long for the elder Loughery,  his son Kevin Loughery Jr., the team’s managing partner, or their primary financial backer Donald Sallee.  Their investment lost an estimated $6 – $7 million dollars during the team’s disastrous two-season run in the National Lacrosse League.

Sallee and his partners paid a $3 million expansion fee for the Chicago franchise in February 2006. They bought in at the peak of a speculative bubble in the 20-year old box (indoor) lacrosse league.  Although franchise fees had escalated from $500,000 to $3 million over the previous six years, the Shamrox entered a league that had yet to solve the problem that had sunk countless pro sports start-ups: how to stay afloat as a tenant in someone else’s building.  Labor strife also loomed on the horizon. The league’s collective bargaining agreement was due to expire shortly after the Shamrox’ inaugural season in 2007.

Sears Centre Menagerie

The Shamrox set up shop at the new $62 million Sears Centre in suburban Hoffman Estates, Illinois.  The 11,000 seat building opened in October 2006. The venue was already in trouble by the time the Shamrox debuted in January 2007.  Ryans Cos., the arena operator, was a Minnesota-based property developer that had no previous experience managing venues.  They signed up a menagerie of doomed sports franchises from chronically shaky leagues to fill dates.  The logjam of tenants included the Chicago Hounds of the United Hockey League, the Chicago Storm of the Major Indoor Soccer League and the Chicago Slaughter of the Continental Indoor Football League.

The Hounds hockey team had to cancel their inaugural game when Ryan Cos. officials failed to prepare the ice surface or install safety glass in time for the game. 4,000 stupefied hockey fans were sent home after watching hapless arena employees blast the gloppy ice rink with garden hoses and fire extinguishers for two hours in a novel (and fruitless) approach to ice making.

Debut Season

The Shamrox debut on January 6th, 2007 went much, much better.  The Shamrox defeated another NLL expansion club, the New York Titans, 15-12 in the inaugural game for both clubs.  A Sears Centre record crowd of 8,456 turned out for the game. The NLL’s cable television partner, Versus Network, televised the game nationwide.

After a 2-0 start, the 2007 Shamrox finished the season 6-10 and did not qualify for the playoffs under Head Coach Jamie Batley.  Attendance was disappointing. The opening night numbers turned out to be a peak, not an on-ramp.  A screwy schedule offered no help the Shamrox ticket sales department.  After the thrilling opener, the team spent over a month on the road before returning for the team’s second home game.  At the conclusion of the season, the Shamrox’ final four home games – half of their entire 2007 home slate – were crammed into a 21-day stretch.  The Shamrox averaged 6,025 fans over eight home matches – far short of the NLL’s purported league average of nearly 11,000.

According to a lawsuit against the National Lacrosse League in April 2009, Shamrox ownership realized they had bought a lemon almost immediately.  The team’s 2007 inaugural season was characterized as “a financial disaster”.  As early as August 2007, according to court documents, the Shamrox owners were desperate to sell but allegedly encountered obstructions from the league office.

League Headaches

Meanwhile, the National Lacrosse League was mired in a chaotic offseason.  On October 16, 2007, the National Lacrosse League announced the cancellation of the 2008 season due to an impasse with the Professional Lacrosse Players Association over a new collective bargaining agreement.  Under the previous CBA, salaries averaged $14,500 across the league, with a $6,800/year rookie minimum and a $25,552 ceiling for up to two “franchise” players. Most NLL players held jobs during the week, practiced one night a week, and played in the league on weekends.  70% of the players were Canadian, so the Shamrox actually held their Wednesday night training sessions in Ontario and then flew players to league cities for matches.

The 2008 season remained cancelled for nine days, but the sides continued to negotiate.  On October 25, 2007 they reached agreement and the season was back on.  But the nine-day shutdown cost the league two franchises. The expansion Boston Blazers delayed their start for a year until 2009.  The Arizona Sting also suspended operations for a year, which later became a permanent shutdown.

Demise

With ownership still desperate to unload the club, the Shamrox opened their second season in January 2008. It was largely a carbon copy of the first.  The team once again finished 6-10 and out of the playoffs with Jamie Batley as Head Coach.  2008 attendance dipped nearly 20% to an average of 4,964.

In the spring of 2008, the league introduced the Shamrox owners to investors from Sports Capital Partners (SCP), owners of the St. Louis Blues of the NHL and Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer.  Shamrox investors put together a sale agreement with SCP that would have moved the club to St. Louis at a “fire sale” price, as characterized by Shamrox owner Donald Sallee in the 2009 lawsuit. But the NLL rejected the transfer application, killing the sale.

As the 2009 season approach, the nearly insolvent Shamrox owners remained stuck with the club.  On December 5th, 2008 Shamrox officials notified the league that a shutdown was imminent.  The team was dead barring some unforeseen miracle.  NLL officials demanded that the Shamrox owners sell the franchise within 120 days or else lose all rights to their league membership.

The Shamrox formally shut down on December 11th, 2008, just fifteen days before the start of the 2009 NLL season.  The league hurried to conduct a dispersal draft and rework the league schedule.  The news came as a shock to NLL fans, who had little awareness of Chicago’s franchise turmoil.  The clock began ticking on Shamrox ownership to recoup some portion of their massive financial loss through a sale before the April 7th, 2009 termination deadline.  Soon, it appeared they had a willing buyer.

Aftermath

Steve Donner and Curt Styers headed Orlando Sports Partners, LLC.  Donner was a long-time sports investor and former NLL owner.  In 2008 Donner sold his small market Rochester Knighthawks NLL franchise to Styres for an astonishing $5.6 million. The deal marked a nearly 100% premium over the previous record franchise sale for the league. Donner’s group offered $1.5 million for the Shamrox with a plan to relocate the team to Orlando. At this point, Donald Sallee alleged in his lawsuit, NLL officials interfered in the sale, informing Donner that the league would not approve the deal. Allegedly, the league then offered Donner an Orlando expansion franchise for $5 million.

With the St. Louis and Orlando deals torpedoed, the April termination deadline came and went.  Sallee filed suit against the league on April 7th, 2009 alleging anti-trust violations, tortious interference, breach of contract and fraud.  Although the suit was voluntarily withdrawn two weeks later, it’s worth noting that the suspended Arizona Sting franchise also sued the NLL just ten days earlier for interfering in their own attempted $1.5 million sale to Donner and Styres. After Sallee withdrew the suit, the NLL formally terminated the Shamrox franchise in the spring of 2009.

Back in Chicago, ownership declined to issue refunds to the small number of fans who purchased 2009 season tickets by cash or check.  This led to an extremely unflattering column by The Chicago Tribune’s consumer affairs reporter Jon Yates in June 2009 that laid bare the team’s finances to the public for the first time.

“It was a complete mess from the beginning,” former Shamrox President Phil Ryan told Yates. “The Shamrox just bled money.” He pegged the Shamrox’ two-year losses at $6 million to $7 million.  As of December 2009, a full year after the shutdown, fans were still waiting for their refunds.

Trivia

The Shamrox may have died, but they were outlived by their dance team. The Hot Rox continued to perform for several years at Chicago Fire soccer and Chicago White Sox baseball games.

Shamrox Video

The Shamrox’ home debut at the Sears Centre against the New York Titans on January 6, 2007.

Downloads

Chicago Indoor Lacrosse Team, LLC vs. National Lacrosse League, Inc. court filing. April 2009.

2008 National Lacrosse League Media Guide (.pdf)

Links

National Lacrosse League Media Guides (1997-Present)

National Lacrosse League Programs

###