🔒Hartford Athletic adds fan perks, new events to grow attendance, revenues

The Hartford Athletic soccer club entered its fifth season this year with higher-profile staff recruits, upgraded fan perks and plans for new summer festivals — all part of an overall investment to boost attendance and interest in the team.

The men’s professional soccer club, which plays in the second tier of the United Soccer League, enjoyed record attendance in 2022, along with a boost in corporate sponsorships that allowed for stadium and other upgrades and new community outreach programs.

Bruce Mandell, co-founder and chairman of the Hartford Athletic, said the team is “incrementally growing its fan base” by offering season ticket package benefits like preferred parking, a concessions app and opportunities for interactions with players and coaches.

A beer garden also works to enhance the overall fan experience at Trinity Health Stadium, with upcoming summer festivals and international competitions aiming to draw in more guests.

More than 1,000 season ticket packages have been sold this year, up from about 900 in 2022. Ideally, Mandell said he’d like to see that number around 1,500.

“But we are on the right path, up 20% since last season,” he said.

In 2022, Athletic games averaged 5,145 fans, Mandell said, with the last five matches of the year sold out in the 5,500-seat stadium. More than 140,000 viewers tuned in for the first nationally broadcast Athletic game on ESPN.

Ticket sales are “the most important revenue” driver, Mandell said, because game attendance boosts parking, concessions and merchandise sales, which then increases advertiser and sponsor interest.

New this year is a merchandise store selling team clothing and accessories. Game-day sales are up 25% over 2022, Mandell said.

Sponsorship revenue is also up 30% this year, with some new financial supporters like Liberty Bank, Goff Law Firm, the University of St. Joseph and CT Council on Problem Gambling.

Mandell has set his sights on the Athletic becoming profitable, but large investments in the team means falling short of that goal, for now.

The Hartford Athletic this season is off to a slow start on the field. Through its first 10 matches, the team has posted a 2-6-2 record.

Meet ‘Dillon’

A new stadium naming-rights deal inked last year with Trinity Health Of New England allowed for several facility upgrades, including a new video board and several refurbished viewing areas on the goal line.

Sponsorship is also vital to the profitability goal. The Athletic gets support from founding partners Trinity Health Of New England, Stanley Black & Decker, Travelers Cos. and The Hartford, along with 55 other corporate sponsors and 50 business alliance partners. This allows the team to conduct community outreach campaigns through its Green and Blue Foundation.

Among its charitable efforts is a community ticket program, which has provided 15,000 tickets to children in underserved communities. Several hundred kids will attend every game this season for free, where they will also get to see the team’s new mascot.

It was envisioned by the same designer of the Phillie Phanatic, Mandell said, and is a similarly nondescript, kid-friendly creature named Dillon — chosen through a community naming contest — in honor of the stadium’s former moniker.

New coaching staff, festivals

Since last season, the Athletic brought in U.S. men’s national soccer standout Tab Ramos as head coach, former UConn soccer coach Ray Reid as technical director, Omid Namazi as first assistant and head scout, and Dan Gaspar as goalie coach.

Mandell said player and coaching staff wages and related costs are up 30% over last year, and up 16% for front-office personnel in areas such as operations and marketing.

He declined to disclose overall team revenues.

“We invested significantly in coaching staff and player wages,” Mandell said. “We had revenue growth at the same time as expense growth.”

Still, he’s hoping to grow the fan base and attendance, which drives advertisers and revenue.

Coming to the stadium this summer is the Hoffman Auto Music Weekend July 14-15, and the first annual Beer Bonanza July 22.

Michele Roux, vice president of business operations and president of the Green & Blue Foundation, said the Greater Hartford community has shown a strong interest in a variety of events at Trinity Health Stadium, “and we are eagerly anticipating our first concert weekend in July. We have consistently demonstrated the ability to provide a best-in-class experience for customers at our existing stadium events, and we are excited to bring a new entertainment option to our city.”

Youth academy growth

Also new this year is an expanded youth academy program, with an additional eight teams for kids ranging from 8 to 18 years old, joining the senior youth teams from years prior.

Just weeks after the new teams were announced, more than 550 youngsters showed up, hoping to earn spots on the roughly nine to 10 teams with 15 to 20 players each.

“It’s taken off like wild,” Mandell said, and Athletic staffers are already planning to add additional youth teams next year. “The response was bigger than we expected, and we want to provide opportunities for different levels at every age, and we want to grow into the girls’ side of the game.”

Trinity Health Stadium will host 17 Hartford Athletic home matches this season, which runs through October.

Coming up Aug. 2, is an Athletic game against Portuguese reserve team Benfica, which should attract many hardcore soccer fans, Mandell said.

“The fans have been great, and incredibly supportive. And we’re a young company, we’re growing. There will be losses for the next couple of years, but it’s all driving us toward sustainability,” Mandell said.