A plan to start tackling big-ticket repairs at Rentschler Field in East Hartford — the home turf of the University of Connecticut football program — could get a major boost if state lawmakers approve a proposed $24 million upgrade for the next two years.
The state taxpayer-backed funding proposal comes as UConn has reached a tentative agreement to extend its contract with the state for another five years to play its home football games at the 38,000-seat stadium, typically six games a season.
Gov. Ned Lamont‘s proposed capital budget includes $12 million in each of the next two fiscal years for renovations at Rentschler — new roofing, concrete repairs and technology upgrades, among them — that would form the foundation of a larger, $63 million plan. The overall plan would stretch out over five years and was developed by a high-profile sports stadium consultant last year aimed at ensuring the venue, which turns 20 this year, keeps up with evolving Division I standards.
Lamont’s proposal, however, will have to pass muster with lawmakers, some voicing concerns about such major investments when UConn Athletics is running deep operating deficits.
State Rep. Vincent Candelora, the House Republican leader, said he is still reviewing the details of the Rentschler proposal, but it is obvious that all buildings need maintenance.
“And I think we would all recognize that,” Candelora said. “The bigger question, I think, that we would have to seek answers to is the level of deficiency that UConn has been running over the past year and how we fix that operating deficiency before we start continued investments in the programs. A $53 million deficit is very troubling and problematic.”
Candelora’s comments come after a week in which the university and Lamont sparred about overall funding for UConn, sparking a protest at the state Capitol drawing hundreds of university students.
UConn has said the $53 million in 2022 included $13.4 million resulting from the loss of the university’s arbitration case with former men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie, who was fired in 2018. Without the money paid to Ollie, the deficit would have been $40 million, down $7 million from the previous year, UConn has said.
The deficit in 2022 was covered by a $46.5 million subsidy from the university and $6.5 million in student fees.
“Fundamentally, to get me to a ‘yes’ on any of this funding, I would like more answers on how we are going to fix the operating budget in our athletic program,” Candelora said.
Attendance drop
The proposed funding for Rentschler comes as UConn football has struggled in the past decade, without a winning season since 2010. But in 2022, in coach Jim Mora’s first season, the program showed encouraging signs of a turnaround. The team’s record of 6-7 was the best in six years, matching 2016, and the team went to a bowl game.
In 2021, the team was 1-11.
Rentschler opened in 2003 at a state taxpayer-funded cost of $92 million, built to showcase a rising UConn football program.
But attendance, which had declined dramatically in recent years, has cut heavily into concession sales and parking fees necessary to fund stadium operations. Some of that has been made up with professional soccer, lacrosse and other events booked at the stadium.
Last year, UConn football attendance — as measured by tickets presented at the turnstiles — was 72,505, the highest since 2018 but still less than half of the most recent peak of 184,977 in 2007, according to the Capital Region Development Authority, which oversees the stadium’s operations.
The stadium’s finances ran in the black in fiscal year 2022 for the first time since 2016, turning in a modest profit, boosted by revenue from events other than UConn football. In the current fiscal year, Rentschler is heading toward another financial loss — with fewer non-UConn events — but less than initially forecast, according to CRDA.
In its Rentschler lease agreement with the state, UConn picks up the first $250,000 of any loss with the state picking up the rest. In the 2023 fiscal year, the loss is projected to be about $1 million.
The five-year lease extension, according to CRDA, calls for UConn to pay $174,000 in rent for each game in the upcoming season, game day expenses for special promotions and events and a $3 per ticket surcharge. UConn keeps all ticket revenue, suite sales, permanent ad revenue in the building and broadcast rights. The stadium and UConn split the proceeds from the sale of UConn merchandise.
In fiscal 2023, UConn revenue is estimated to account for 70% of all overall stadium revenue, compared with 35% in fiscal 2022, CRDA said.
A UConn spokesman, citing a recently released NCAA report, said operating revenues from the university’s football program was about $4.7 million for the 2021 season, the latest statistics available.
The tentative lease extension for Rentschler must still be approved by UConn’s Board of Trustees and the state Office of Policy and Management.
UConn Athletic Director David Benedict had no comment on the lease extension. But Benedict echoed earlier comments that UConn supports the decision to make major deferred maintenance investments at Rentschler Field.
“These necessary upgrades will unquestionably be a benefit for our student-athletes and UConn fans,” Benedict said in an email.
‘We’ve been chasing it’
The 150-page report from Atlanta-based Populous, the consultant that studied Rentschler, made recommendations that go well beyond routine, yearly maintenance and requires the largest investments since Rentschler opened. The renovations, the report said, would bring the stadium into the 21st century and prepare it for the next 10-15 years. The study, at a cost of $330,000, noted Rentschler had been well maintained, but more was now needed.
Since 2012, the state has approved $7 million in bond funds for improvements at the stadium, $1.9 million, the largest single item, for a new scoreboard, according to CRDA. These figures do not include about $11 million tied to the construction of grass parking lots around the stadium.
In addition, the venue has an annual repair budget, which is $440,000 in the current fiscal year, that covers maintenance and equipment repairs.
“It’s not a lot for 165 acres because it’s not just the building — it’s the parking lot, the light poles, if someone hits a light pole,” Kim Hart, CRDA’s venue director, said, during a tour with the Courant of the stadium last week. “It’s not a lot for a 20-year-old building.”
If approved, the $24 million is expected to pay for, among other things, a new roof on the tower building that contains the suites and The Club. The roof has been patched and has seen more wear and tear than first expected. The roof has become a favored vantage point for parking managers and police during game days.
Hart pointed to patches on the roof’s membrane during a tour for the Courant last week. Hart also noted that it’s not as easy as it may seem to replace the roof because massive heating and cooling units, also being replaced or updated, will likely need to be removed first. In addition, cell towers, which generate income for the stadium, must also be temporarily relocated.
“It’s not just get everybody off and roll it out,” Hart said. “It’s complicated moving equipment around.”
Other priorities are expected to be repairs to the stadium’s concrete and the installation of miles of silicone sealant along every row of seats to plug worsening leaks. Because the majority of the stadium is open to the weather, the sealant was designed to funnel water to drains. But the alternating hot and cold weather has cracked and damaged it, allowing water to flow into places it shouldn’t — in some cases, near electrical boxes.
There are signs of leaks throughout the the stadium, with stains visible under rows of seating and on supporting columns in the concourse and elsewhere.
“It’s structurally sound,” Hart said. “It’s just the leaks, and the longer you leave the leaks, it could start to impact the structure.”
On the tour, Derek Miles, the assistant general manager at Rentschler, stopped and pointed toward brown stains on a half dozen ceiling tiles in The Club.
“We’ve been chasing it,” Miles said. “We don’t know where it is coming from — honestly. We think part of it is coming from inside one of the HVAC units. So when it’s pumping in the a/c, it just drips, drips, drips.”
Some of the mechanical systems are so old, replacement parts are no longer manufactured, making repairs difficult, Hart said.
The $24 million also would start sorely needed upgrades in technology, including security systems, that was highlighted as a major deficiency in the Populous report. Television broadcast operations must arrive a couple of days before a game to set up fiber optic systems, stringing cables rather than just plugging into the building. The stadium’s public spaces also do not have wi-fi and wireless access, now expected by fans attending sporting events.
Reporting by Courant Staff Writer Dom Amore is included. Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
