Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field
Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field is a stadium in East [Hartford, Connecticut]. It is primarily used for football and soccer, and is the home field of the University of Connecticut Huskies. In 2010, it was home to the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League. The stadium, which opened in 2003, was the first stadium used primarily by an NCAA FBS team to open in the 21st century. Prior to its opening, Connecticut had played on-campus at Memorial Stadium in Storrs from 1953 to 2002.
Rentschler Field was originally the name of the company airfield for Pratt & Whitney that formerly occupied the site. The airfield, which began operations in 1931, was named after Frederick Rentschler, who founded Pratt & Whitney in 1925 and also founded its parent company, United Technologies. It was originally used for test flights and maintenance operations, and later for corporate aviation. The site was decommissioned as an airport in the 1990s, and donated to the state of Connecticut by United Technologies in 1999. A subsequent 65-acre donation by United Technologies in 2009 allowed for the construction of additional grass parking lots adjacent to the Stadium.
Pursuant to a lease agreement with the State, UConn plays all its home football games at Rentschler Field.
History
The New England Patriots considered moving to Connecticut and sharing a stadium with the UConn football team in the mid-1990s. The new stadium was supposed to be built on the Connecticut Convention Center site in downtown Hartford. However, when the Patriots completed the deal for Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, the Hartford stadium plan was scaled down and the location was moved to East Hartford. The current capacity of 40,000 can expand to 50,000 with limited rehabilitation and has the layout and design for expansion of up to 60,000 seats in the future.The stadium is owned by the State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management, while operations are overseen by the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority. Global Spectrum, L.P. has managed the building on behalf of CRDA since 2013. Previously, the Stadium was managed by Bushnell Management Services, Anschutz Entertainment Group and Madison Square Garden L.P..
Prior to the 2013 [UConn Huskies football team|2013 season], a new 28×73-foot wide and 15HD pixel video display was installed replacing the stadium's original scoreboard.
On July 16, 2015, it was announced that the stadium had been named Pratt & Whitney Stadium in a deal between Pratt & Whitney and UConn. The playing surface is still named Rentschler Field. In return, Pratt and Whitney donated additional land that will be used for game day parking.
Connecticut Huskies
The UConn Huskies football team has an all time 80–60 record at Rentschler Field.| Year | Record |
| 2003 | 5–1 |
| 2004 | 6–1 |
| 2005 | 4–2 |
| 2006 | 3–4 |
| 2007 | 7–0 |
| 2008 | 4–2 |
| 2009 | 4–2 |
| 2010 | 6–0 |
| 2011 | 4–3 |
| 2012 | 3–3 |
| 2013 | 2–5 |
| 2014 | 2–5 |
| 2015 | 4–2 |
| 2016 | 3–4 |
| 2017 | 2–4 |
| 2018 | 1–5 |
| 2019 | 1–5 |
| 2021 | 1–5 |
| 2022 | 5–1 |
| 2023 | 1–5 |
| 2024 | 6–1 |
| 2025 | 6–0 |
Sellouts
| Date | Opponent | Result | Seats |
| September 13, 2003 | Boston College | L 14–24 | 40,000 |
| November 8, 2003 | Rutgers | W 38–31 | 40,000 |
| September 11, 2004 | Duke | W 22–20 | 40,000 |
| September 25, 2004 | Army | W 40–3 | 40,000 |
| September 30, 2004 | Pittsburgh | W 29–17 | 40,000 |
| October 13, 2004 | #17 West Virginia | L 19–31 | 40,000 |
| October 23, 2004 | Temple | W 45–31 | 40,000 |
| November 20, 2004 | Buffalo | W 29–0 | 40,000 |
| September 1, 2005 | Buffalo | W 38–0 | 40,000 |
| September 10, 2005 | Liberty | W 59–0 | 40,000 |
| October 7, 2005 | Syracuse | W 26–7 | 40,000 |
| October 22, 2005 | Rutgers | L 24–26 | 40,000 |
| November 26, 2005 | South Florida | W 15–10 | 40,000 |
| December 3, 2005 | #16 Louisville | L 20–30 | 40,000 |
| September 16, 2006 | Wake Forest | L 13–24 | 40,000 |
| September 30, 2006 | Navy | L 17–41 | 40,000 |
| October 20, 2006 | #4 West Virginia | L 11–37 | 40,000 |
| November 11, 2006 | Pittsburgh | W 46–453OT | 40,000 |
| October 19, 2007 | Louisville | W 21–17 | 40,000 |
| October 27, 2007 | #11 South Florida | W 22–15 | 40,000 |
| November 3, 2007 | Rutgers | W 38–19 | 40,000 |
| November 17, 2007 | Syracuse | W 30–7 | 40,000 |
| September 13, 2008 | Virginia | W 45–10 | 40,000 |
| October 25, 2008 | Cincinnati | W 40–16 | 40,000 |
| November 1, 2008 | West Virginia | L 35–13 | 40,000 |
| October 17, 2009 | Louisville | W 38–25 | 40,000 |
| November 28, 2009 | Syracuse | W 56–31 | 40,000 |
| October 2, 2010 | Vanderbilt | W 40–21 | 40,000 |
| October 29, 2010 | West Virginia | W 16–13OT | 40,000 |
| November 27, 2010 | Cincinnati | W 38–17 | 40,000 |
| September 21, 2013 | #15 Michigan | L 24–21 | 42,704 |
Soccer
Hartford Athletic
On March 11, 2019, it was announced that the renovations at Dillon Stadium would not be completed on time for Hartford Athletic's home opener on May 4 against Charlotte Independence. Hartford Athletic played seven games at Pratt & Whitney Stadium.| Date | Opponent | Score | Attendance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 4, 2019 |  Major League SoccerOn September 23, 2017, New [York City FC] played a home match at Pratt & Whitney Stadium, against the Houston Dynamo, in the stadium's first Major League Soccer game. The game was relocated from Yankee Stadium in New York City due to a schedule conflict with the New York Yankees.On September 11, 2020, Governor Ned Lamont announced that Toronto FC would finish their season's home matches at Pratt & Whitney Stadium due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
|
