EAST HARTFORD — — Two months before their first home game, the Hartford Colonials apparently have a home.
Team officials said Wednesday that they've agreed to the framework of a deal with Bushnell Management Services, which operates Rentschler Field. The agreement is not signed, but Colonials president Bill Peterson said tickets for games at Rentschler could go on sale next week.
The Colonials played their home games at Rentschler last season, their first in Hartford after the franchise spent a season in New York. The 2011 home opener is Aug. 27 against Sacramento. Colonials officials have been negotiating a stadium deal for months while also paying off debt owed to the state for last year.
"We're excited about playing there," Peterson said at the team's East Hartford office. "We're trying to build a business and we do have a good handle on the direction we're headed. What we needed at the end of the day in a stadium deal was a good partnership, a fair deal and a commitment to help us build our company."
Peterson and team owner Bill Mayer said last year's stadium deal was negotiated by different parties on both sides — Bushnell Management was not running the facility and many of the UFL's negotiators have since left the league. So negotiations were tenuous as the Colonials were seeking different terms for 2011.
"It took a while," Mayer said. "The big change was to have everybody understand that we're not like a rock concert coming through once every four years and that we plan on being here for a long time and we wanted to be viewed a partner and not a one-off tenant. But we got there."
As it embarks on its second year in Hartford, the team is still paying off debt from its first season. Creditors have been asking for their money and Peterson said the team is in the process of addressing the mound of bills from the 2010 season.
Last year, the UFL ran the team's finances from the league office in Florida. This year, teams will operate as independent entities and Peterson, a former league executive, is running the operation.
"There were a lot [of bills]," said Mayer, a New York investment banker who lives in Fairfield County. "A lot has been paid, a lot has been negotiated. … We've been slogging through it."
The financial issues in Hartford are somewhat of a microcosm of the league, which has been losing money. Rumors of its demise have been rampant, especially since the end of last season.
There was hope that an extended NFL lockout would benefit the UFL, but it appears a labor agreement is likely before the NFL season. When the NFL's labor strife was more dire, UFL officials spoke to CBS about showing games on the network. Now, it seems the UFL will again be operating in the shadow of the NFL. The UFL has moved its season up this year as it attempts to attract fans before the NFL season. The Colonials open Aug. 13 at the Virginia Destroyers.
The UFL will again be on Versus and HDNet. Locally, the team has talked to CPTV and could return to NESN this season.
One thing is certain — Mayer and the other owners will again lose money this season. Mayer said his team has cut costs, so the losses will be less than last season.
But Mayer doesn't think the UFL will break even for at least another two years, and that will only happen when the league negotiates a more profitable TV deal and a more comprehensive player transfer agreement with the NFL.
Mayer said 70 percent of his costs involve players and coaches. If the UFL continues to develop into a feeder system for NFL rosters, the league will need to reach a financial agreement with the NFL in order to survive.
"None of us want to continue losing money at the rate we are," Mayer said. "But we are slowly getting there. This is a critical year for us. We need to see more fannies in the seats … we need more sponsorship deals. But we're moving forward."
