The specific name of the Rentschler Field stadium is the Pratt & Whitney stadium. Located in East Hartford, Connecticut, it is primarily used for American football and soccer. It presently serves as the home stadium for the UConn Huskies.
The permanent stadium capacity is 40,642, which consists of 38,110 permanent seats and an additional 2,532 standing room in the scoreboard plaza. It also has the capacity to hold 2000 additional people on important match-days.
History
Rentschler Field was originally the name of the company airfield for Pratt & Whitney, which were the former occupant of the site. It is named after the founder of the company, Frederick Brant Rentschler.
After the site was decommissioned as an airport, the company donated this land to the state of Connecticut to be used as a stadium.
Major Matches
Rentschler Field has hosted several games for the national soccer teams of the United States for both men and women.
Most of these games have been friendlies except the match of the United States men’s national soccer team against Costa Rica in 2013, which was a match for the CONCACAF gold cup, which the US won 1-0.
The home side has an impressive record here. Out of the 11 international games played, the US has won seven games, lost one and drew three. Notably, this stadium was where the Landon Donovan played his last match. That game saw a record attendance of 36,265 people.
Controversies
The home side, the UConn Huskies have been largely successful at this ground with a positive record of 59 wins to 38 losses. However, their form has deteriorated over the past two years. Out of the six games played by them in 2017, they have won only two.
This has reflected in the low attendance of the home crowd. The attendance this season is the lowest average attendance, by far, since the stadium opened in 2003. The season with the second lowest attendance was the previous season. This has generated much controversy in the state-owned stadium.
