Bruce Mandell, owner and CEO of family owned direct-mail company Data-Mail Inc., employs roughly 1,000 people between locations in Newington and Windsor, but that’s not even his most notable job.
Mandell, and partners Joseph Calafiore Jr. and Scott Schooley of Hartford Sports Group (HSG), launched the Hartford Athletic pro soccer club last year at a revitalized Dillon Stadium. The team’s second season in 2020 is being delayed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
HSG brokered a deal with city and state officials to help overhaul the historic stadium as part of a $14-million renovation. The project, largely paid for by public financing, also received millions of dollars in funding from Mandell and his partners.
The team is viewed as a community asset, but it’s also trying to figure out how to become a profitable business enterprise. It lost money in year one and didn’t meet all of its attendance goals.