NLL Insider

NLL Insider has learned from several sources that the current Chicago Shamrox’s ownership group, headed by Kevin Loughery Jr., is currently in the midst of trying to sell the franchise with an apparent deadline of Wednesday, Dec. 10.

It appears that if a deal cannot be reached with a new ownership group by their mid-week deadline, the team will simply fold, leaving the NLL with twelve teams heading into the 2009 season.

Those same sources also tell NLL Insider that the current Chicago roster would likely be entered into a Dispersal Draft, which could occur as early as Friday of this week.

The upcoming NLL season was slated to kick-off on December 27th in Chicago’s Sears Centre of all places, with the Shamrox hosting the Rochester Knighthawks. The two teams were scheduled to participate in an exhibition game this upcoming weekend as well.

It was towards the middle of last season that Loughery made it known that he would likely be selling the franchise, citing that he and his ownership group, who were based in Los Angeles and Atlanta, found it too difficult to manage the business side of the team from outside of Chicago. It’s unknown if that is still the lone reason for the group’s current motivation to sell the franchise before Wednesday’s cut-off date.

Since then however, the Shamrox organization has continued business as usual, recently relaunching a new version of the team’s website and also going through training camp and preparing for the 2009 season on the floor, most recently topping the Buffalo Bandits in preseason action.

Although recent online rumours are reporting the team has already folded, sources confirm that the team does have until the middle of this week to make any final decisions, so complete hope should not be lost at this point.

It’s expected that a potential Dispersal Draft would run in the same order as the most recent Arizona Sting Dispersal Draft, with the expansion Boston Blazers selecting first prior to teams being ranked in reverse order of where they finished in last year’s standings (with playoffs included).

Rumours of Chicago players being awarded free agency or the draft being run as a lottery appear to be premature and unlikely if indeed the Shamrox unfortunately shut down operations this week.

After speaking to various team staff throughout the NLL today, most feel keeper Anthony Cosmo and defender Scott Self will almost surely be taken first and second overall if the team does in fact fold and a draft is needed, while players like Bobby McBride, Bill McGlone, Kevin Fines, Mike Kirk and a reinvigorated Cody Jacobs should also receive a lot of attention.

It’s unclear who Loughery and his ownership group are currently speaking with in regards to a sale, but NLL Insider can confirm they are indeed in some level of active negotiations.

Stay tuned to NLL Insider for more on this developing story.

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