Rentschler Field (stadium)

Rentschler Field is a stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut. It is primarily used for football, and is the home field of the University of Connecticut Huskies. Starting in the fall of 2010, it became 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 Division I-A (now FBS) team to open in the 21st century. It holds 40,000 people and can be expanded. Connecticut played on campus at Memorial Stadium in Storrs, before 2003.

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 Brant Rentschler, who founded the aircraft arm of Pratt & Whitney and later founded its current parent company, United Technologies. It was originally used for test flights and maintenance operations, and later for corporate aviation. The 75 acre site was decommissioned as an airport in the 1990s, and donated to the state of Connecticut by United Technologies in 1999. The company's contributions were not restricted to the airfield; it also allows the use of 100 acre of its corporate campus in East Hartford for game-day parking.

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 stadium hosts major concerts (such as Bruce Springsteen, the first artist to play the stadium, in 2003, The Rolling Stones in 2005, The Police in 2007, Eminem in 2010, and Taylor Swift in 2011), and international soccer and rugby union matches. In addition, the Bollywood movie Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna used the field as the location of the soccer game in the opening scene of the movie. It is owned by the state of Connecticut and is operated by Bushnell Management Services, who took over the stadium in 2011. Madison Square Garden, L.P. operated the stadium until 2006, and Anschutz Entertainment Group operated the stadium from 2007 through 2010. In 2012, the State exercised a provision in their contract with Bushnell Management Services ending their contract 2 years early and putting it out to bid with the XL Center. In February 2013, Global Spectrum of Philadelphia, was chosen to take over both the XL Center and Rentschler Field with Ovations Food Services taking over all food and beverage operations.

Hartford Colonials
The Hartford Colonials were a United Football League team that played their home games at Rentschler Field. During their (2010 UFL season), the Colonials played all four home games at Rentschler, after having played one there the previous season while they were known as the New York Sentinels. Attendance at Colonials games averaged a consistent 15,000 people, third place in the five-team league behind Omaha and Sacramento. The UFL suspended the Colonials franchise in 2011, in part because of the high rent the stadium charged; the franchise was officially terminated when the team's former owner (Bill Mayer) was named as the new owner of a different franchise.

Whalers Hockey Fest
From February 11–20, 2011, the stadium hosted the Whalers Hockey Fest 2011. A hockey rink was constructed on the field much like is done for the annual NHL Winter Classic. Events included a Hartford Whalers Alumni vs. Boston Bruins Alumni game, a double-header featuring both UConn men's and women's hockey teams, a Hockey Legends team faced off against the Mystery, Alaska Hollywood team, and the second edition of the American Hockey League Outdoor Classic between the host Connecticut Whale and the Providence Bruins. Over 15,000 fans came out to watch the so-called "Whale Bowl", while over 1,700 attended the UConn men's game.