Just went to Rentschler - Observations

Submitted by BlueBulls on

As a recent graduate that is less than 4 months removed from living on East U, I thought I would share my recent impressions of Rentschler Field. I went for work (there was a product fair in the club area), and couldn't help but compare it to the Big House the entire time I was there.

My (kind of random) thoughts:

1. It's in East Hartford, which is almost 30 minutes from Storrs. Understandable that UConn students aren't as into football.

2. It's in a weird area; across the street on one side there's a huge Cabelas and a large pharmaceutical? company headquarters. Another side is a neighborhood, and the two other sides are undeveloped. It wasn't a gameday, but it doesn't seem like the area is a catalyst for a rowdy football environment.

3. There are some grass fields around it that provide (relatively) ample room for tailgating.

4. Driving up to it, it's incredible unintimidating. It reminds me a lot of IU's stadium if that does anything for you. One of the endzones is open except for the scoreboard, there's space in between the grandstands on the sidelines and endzones. This makes me wonder how loud it can even get.

5. The first 20 or so rows are sunken like the Big House, but it doesn't have the size to compensate. This makes it look even smaller from the outside. The pressbox/club building is easily the biggest (and best) part, I give it a B for exterior aesthetics.

6. I didn't get a chance to take a tour, but the field looked mowed and didn't have any lines on it. I would then assume that it's real grass.

7. Aside from the IU comparison, it kind of reminded me of the high school stadium in the Friday Night Lights movie. Tony Drake and the other Texas players should feel right at home.

Overall, it's a nice looking stadium, but it really looks like an oversized Texas HS stadium or small soccer stadium overseas. I wonder if the players will have a hard time getting up for the game considering what they're used to.

For the record, I'm ok, with the game being scheduled out here as it's not too far from NYC, and there are a ton of alumni out here.

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Comments

Blazefire

August 13th, 2009 at 12:35 PM ^

It's good to know where you're playing, to survey it, so thank you for the review. Sounds a lot like the Glass Bowl in Toledo, to me, except that Toledo has some high towers with some kickin' suites and box seats on the one side. Edit: For reference, from the Uberaccurate NCAA 10. Rentschler: Glass Bowl: IU:

Joined: 04/17/2009

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Elno Lewis

August 13th, 2009 at 1:52 PM ^

we'll get lucky and they will play the game at yankee stadium or on an aircraft carrier at night with smoke machines and rawk musik.

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Brodie

August 14th, 2009 at 2:03 AM ^

To be more specific, it was planned for a potential relocation of the Patriots to Hartford. When that fell through, the plan was changed to focus on UConn. Hartford was in need of a major stadium to stay competitive with concert venues, etc.

Joined: 11/19/2008

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JLo

August 13th, 2009 at 2:32 PM ^

Or a defense contractor, anyway. The stadium is on the grounds of the main facility for Pratt and Whitney, a jet engine manufacturer. Pratt donated some land that used to be an airstrip to the state of CT around 2000, and it was used to build a stadium for UConn. I used to work at Pratt and spent a decent amount of time in East Hartford, so if anyone wants to know a little more about the area let me know.

Joined: 07/19/2008

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petered0518

August 13th, 2009 at 4:47 PM ^

But I think that Michigan and Uconn should look into having the game at the new Yankee stadium. I remember hearing that the Yankees were looking into having a football game there. It would be great for publicity for both schools, and Uconn students are already going a long way to see home games. I don't know how many people the stadium holds, but it had got to be more than Rentschler.

Joined: 08/05/2009

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BlueBulls

August 13th, 2009 at 5:20 PM ^

I'm pretty sure that it isn't possible. Notre Dame somehow screwed UConn over and is playing the UConn "home" games all over the place. Since then it has been mandated that all of UConn's home games be played in the state of Connecticut. Someone else had suggested the Yale Bowl, although I don't know anything about it.

Joined: 04/06/2009

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Blake

August 13th, 2009 at 5:49 PM ^

While I'm not holding out too much hope that the game would be played at the Yale Bowl, it would be fantastic if that ended up being the case, especially given that the Yale's sunken bowl design was the inspiration for the Rose Bowl as well as our very own Michigan Stadium. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:YaleBowl-Field1a.JPG) Yale Bowl's seating capacity of 64,000+ would also be considerably larger than the 40,000 at Rentschler, although you pretty much have to drive through Hartford on your way to New Haven if you were coming from Storrs (so it would be even less of a home field if that were the case). It is interesting that there hasn't been an "official" announcement from either school, especially given that the news broke a few weeks ago, so maybe something more considerable is being worked out. EDIT: Also of note, the last time Michigan played at Yale (and, by extension, in the state of Connecticut) was 1938, a 15-13 Wolverine victory.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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jblaze

August 14th, 2009 at 9:21 AM ^

yield more seats, but the price per seat would be far greater. This is because of the demand in NYC, the general expensive nature of Yankee/ Giants stadium (since it is shiny and new, they charge a lot more) and the box seats that rich alumni would get. Those boxes might go for $2K to $3K per seat for a private box. Splitting Yankee/ Giants stadium revenue would be more lucrative for Uconn than splitting Uconn stadium, but the state would probably not go for this.

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chitownblue2

August 14th, 2009 at 9:28 AM ^

I don't know the answer, but can Yankee Stadium even BE converted to a football field? It's not like this is a multi-use stadium where the lower levels of seats can be rolled back - those things are immobile. Can you even fit a football field there? Further, sight-lines would be miserable - all the seats are on an angle to face home-plate - not straight ahead like in a football field. People would be wrenching around to see plays on one side of the field.

Joined: 06/03/2009

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chitownblue2

August 13th, 2009 at 5:54 PM ^

There are many, many misconceptions about UConn. As a native of Connectictut, let me elaborate: UConn is in Storrs - which, FYI, is still a solid (30 to 45 minute) drive from the closest major city - Hartford. Hartford (or, to be more correct, East Hartford) is where their football stadium is. Moving farther away from Storrs is not extremely relevant - Storrs has virtually no population base (11,000 full-time residents - it's less than 1/10th the size of Ann Arbor's full time population). Because Connecticut has no professional sports teams, and the nearest major college football is played at BC (the Catholic University doesn't have that many fans in WASPy Connecticut), UConn athletics are front and center in every major newscast and newspaper in the state. Women's basketball is often the #2 story on the news (after the Men's team) whenever they play - the entire state, regardless of affiliation with the school, is HUGE into the Huskies - call them Walmart Huskies (there are no Walmarts in CT). Because of this, the School makes sure to play plenty of games in a central location with a larger population - Hartford. Half of UConn's basketball games are played at the Hartford Civic Center (former home of the Whalers), and they routinely sell it out, despite the lack of student attendance. Despite their lack of D-I history, the football team runs high attendance numbers at Rentschler - again, without that many students there.

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derekski99

August 14th, 2009 at 3:28 PM ^

Hey guys, I'm a recent UConn grad and have attended a number of games at the Rent. Look, I'm excited to see Michigan in person as I always wanted to go to UM but didn't have the money to do so. My family is from Detroit so understand that I love Michigan and will be rooting for them from my seats in the alumni section haha. But here's the deal, don't underestimate the program or the stadium. It gets loud and despite some wrongful assertions, the students pack the place, especially for big games. For instance, the student section is sold out this year, and has been for virtually every year since the Rent opened. With that said, over the first years while interest was high, Rentschler Field was sold out, every game. I believe the first 12 games there were sold out. Unfortunately, most fans are somewhat new to the whole college football experience. They don't leave their tailgating parties until usually kickoff. Hence when the game starts, its usually only the student section and a smattering of fans. From my time working with the marketing department and with the team to a smaller extent, there are plans to increase capacity. These next couple years will probably play a big role in whether or not the stadium holds 50,000 by 2013. Also, UConn is now a Nike-exclusive school, which could play a smaller role in that. The Rent holds 40,000, is grass, and believe it or not, gets loud. The location was selected as it was already mentioned, as a precursor to the Patriots coming to town, which when that fell through, they focused on UConn. Some other assumptions made that were false include the area population and the media market. The Hartford MSA has a little over 1.3 million people. When coupled with Springfield, it represents the 21st largest media market in the US, the largest without a pro sports team. So basically, you wont be playing in front of no one. If I'm not mistaken, the basketball team will travel to Michigan this year, which you could argue is like Michigan traveling to Connecticut for football. At any rate, the program is slowly on the rise. They also signed a deal to play Tennessee in 2014 and 2015 in a home and home so don't think that Michigan is the only school making the trek to CT. Either way, the media will be all over this game, and the fans will pack the place, you can trust in that. By that time, theres a chance UConn could be a perenially Big East power ala West Virginia. Don't feel so bad. Oh, and for the record, the Yale Bowl is in absolute shambles. It is a complete dump, so no, it is not a viable site for a game of two division one football teams. With all of that said, Go Blue! (and UConn too!) haha

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