🔒How CT United’s soccer stadium ambitions shifted from Bridgeport to Norwich
Entrepreneur André Swanston spent years pursuing a waterfront soccer stadium complex in Bridgeport before CT United FC shifted plans to Norwich’s Dodd Stadium. HBJ Photo | Steve Laschever
After failing to win state support for a planned waterfront stadium in Bridgeport, CT United FC will base operations at Norwich’s aging Dodd Stadium — a move that will require millions in public investment to modernize the 31-year-old facility.
Connecticut’s newest professional soccer team has secured a permanent home — but not the one its owners spent years and millions pursuing.
After failing to win state support for a planned waterfront stadium in Bridgeport, CT United FC and its owner, Connecticut Sports Group (CTSG), will instead base operations at Norwich’s Dodd Stadium, opting for a lower-cost and faster path to stability.
The move will require a significant public investment to upgrade the aging baseball stadium. While CTSG has committed to improving fan-facing elements, the city — and potentially the state — will be responsible for millions of dollars in core infrastructure upgrades needed to modernize the facility.
“We think it’s really important for the club to have a permanent home,” said André Swanston, managing partner of CTSG and co-owner of CT United FC.
Swanston spent more than two years advancing plans for a futuristic stadium complex in Bridgeport, Connecticut’s largest city, which he envisioned as the home for the MLS NEXT Pro Division III team awarded to the group in 2024.
The club began its inaugural season in March, playing home matches at Yale’s field in New Haven and UConn’s Morrone Stadium in Storrs while continuing its search for a permanent base.
He pitched the Bridgeport project as a live-work-play destination that would include more than 1,000 housing units, create 1,300 permanent jobs and generate $3.4 billion in statewide economic impact.
While the stadium itself was to be privately financed, Swanston sought state funding for surrounding infrastructure, including roads, sewer systems and amenities such as a riverwalk. In 2025, Bridgeport lawmakers sought a $127 million public investment package for the project. Swanston previously said he could raise up to $750 million in private capital for the broader stadium complex.
Conor Geary, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, team owners Andre Swanston and his wife Michelle Swanston pose for a photo after the announcement of MLS NEXT Pro's planned Bridgeport launch. SHAHRZAD RASEKH / CT MIRROR
CTSG lobbied hard for support, but lawmakers requested an economic impact statement before committing to the funding, and by February of this year, it was clear Gov. Ned Lamont was not going to sign off on any state investment.
The outcome left Swanston out several million dollars.
“That’s frustrating. It would have been a home run for the state,” he said during a recent interview, adding that he doesn’t see a path forward for the Bridgeport project in the foreseeable future. “But you know, if you can’t afford to lose, don’t play the game.”
Infrastructure investment
Swanston is a Connecticut-based entrepreneur and investor who co-founded ad-tech firm Tru Optik, which was sold to TransUnion for more than $100 million in 2020. A former UConn track athlete, he has since focused on a mix of business ventures and large-scale sports and entertainment projects.
Connecticut Sports Group was formed in 2024 and has attracted outside investors, including former UConn basketball star and 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, along with private equity and business executives.
As CTSG’s Bridgeport negotiations unfolded and ultimately fell apart, discussions about a potential alternative in eastern Connecticut were already taking shape.
Dodd Stadium was built in 1994 for about $9 million, including a significant state economic development grant. It seats 6,270 and was originally designed as a minor league baseball park.
The venue has hosted multiple teams over the years, including the Double-A Eastern League Norwich Navigators, once an affiliate of the New York Yankees, and is currently home to the Norwich Sea Unicorns of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.
In recent years, a lack of investment has led to significant deterioration of the facility.
A recent study commissioned by the city estimates roughly $7 million in upgrades are needed, including improvements to roofing, HVAC, electrical systems, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, and field and drainage infrastructure.
Recently elected Norwich Mayor Swarnjit Singh made the stadium a focus of his campaign last year, opposing suggestions from some city councilors to sell the troubled property. The uncertainty over its future had also prompted discussions about the Sea Unicorns leaving the city.
“In my campaign, I said, Dodd is actually a regional asset and it should be treated that way — we need to find a solution,” Singh said.
Singh says he first met with Swanston in December to pitch the stadium, and they stayed in touch as the Bridgeport negotiations were playing out. Once state funding to support a Bridgeport stadium was finally nixed, Dodd was already top-of-mind for CTSG.
The group has agreed to an initial two-year lease with options to extend, and has committed funds to improve areas tied to team operations and the fan experience.
However, responsibility for major infrastructure upgrades will fall to the city.
Norwich has already committed $400,000 for new lighting and is prepared to invest up to $1 million, Singh said, with the hope that the state will help cover the remaining costs.
“We’re going to be very conservative in our approach because we do understand we might have to do it in phases,” he said.
Swanston acknowledged the task ahead, but said he is hopeful the state will see revitalizing an existing asset as a more attractive opportunity than building a new stadium.
“It needs a lot of TLC just to get it up to the standards of being able to host a professional match,” he said. “But when we think from a time standpoint and a money standpoint, that’s going to be a much shorter turnaround and a much lower price tag.”
Filling a void
Swanston said he’s not fazed by the move from Bridgeport to eastern Connecticut and the much smaller Norwich, noting the team always intended to have a statewide presence.
“We named the team Connecticut — it was very intentional,” he said.
The team’s youth academy already operates out of Danbury and will remain there. CT United has also held community clinics and public events in Bridgeport. The team has played its inaugural home matches in New Haven and Storrs.
Swanston says while Dodd will be the team’s primary home, it will still host occasional matches in New Haven and elsewhere.
“United as one market, Connecticut is 3.6 million people,” he said. “No city or county in the state could justify a major league team. But together, it’s a top 25 opportunity in all of America in terms of media market.”
The shift to eastern Connecticut comes as the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun prepares to relocate to Houston for the 2027 season after more than two decades at Mohegan Sun. Both Swanston and Singh said they see an opportunity for soccer to help fill the void that will be left in eastern Connecticut when the Sun departs.
CTSG has also reached an agreement to host a franchise in a new women’s league, WPSL Pro, which is set to launch in 2027.
Singh said the timing aligns with broader economic developments in the region. As Electric Boat ramps up hiring and Norwich advances plans for a proposed 184-acre industrial park off I-395, both projects are expected to increase demand for workforce housing and bring an influx of residents who could support a more active sports venue.
“It’s an exciting time for the City of Norwich,” Singh said. “For decades we were sitting on a losing asset. Now it’s really going to not just generate resources for the City of Norwich, but it will take tourism to the next level in the whole of eastern Connecticut.”
