The
New England Patriots considered moving to Connecticut and sharing a stadium with the UConn football team in the mid-1990s. The new stadium was supposed to be built on the
Connecticut Convention Center site in downtown
Hartford. However, when the Patriots completed the deal for
Gillette Stadium in
Foxboro, Massachusetts, the Hartford stadium plan was scaled down and the location was moved to
East Hartford. The current capacity of 40,000 can expand to 50,000 with limited rehabilitation and has the layout and design for expansion of up to 60,000 seats in the future. The stadium is owned by the State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management, while operations are overseen by the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA). Global Spectrum, L.P. has managed the building on behalf of CRDA since 2013. Previously, the Stadium was managed by Bushnell Management Services (2011–2013),
Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG)(2007–2011) and Madison Square Garden L.P. (2003–2007). Prior to the
2013 season, a new 28×73-foot wide and 15HD pixel video display was installed replacing the stadium's original scoreboard. On July 16, 2015, it was announced that the stadium had been named Pratt & Whitney Stadium in a deal between
Pratt & Whitney and UConn. The playing surface is still named Rentschler Field. In return, Pratt and Whitney donated additional land that will be used for game day parking. ==Connecticut Huskies==