Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC to play home games at Rentschler Field
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EAST HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) — Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC will be playing its home games this season in Connecticut.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced on Friday that the team will be playing its home games at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
The first game will be played on Sunday, Sept. 27 against Columbus Crew SC.
At this time, no tickets are available for purchase and there will be no fans in attendance.
“Pratt & Whitney Stadium is an ideal location for professional soccer, and I am excited that we’ve reached an agreement with Toronto FC to have the club play their home games here,” Lamont said in a press release. “Our state is filled with thousands of MLS fans who no doubt will be excited by this news. I thank Toronto FC’s management team for working with my administration to finalize this agreement, and we look forward to having the Reds in Connecticut.”
“Our state has worked incredibly hard to get our economy moving during this pandemic, and seeing a professional sports franchise like Toronto FC select the Hartford region as its home sure is validation that our strategy has worked,” Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner David Lehman said. “We are proud to be the temporary home for our newfound Canadian partner.”
“While we continue to work with government officials on our travel protocols, it is important to the club to have our own home away from home during this next phase,” Toronto FC President Bill Manning said. “The State of Connecticut opened their arms for us and my compliments to David Lehman and Governor Lamont for their leadership here. Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field is a great venue. They’ve hosted a number of international games and we’re excited to play there.”
“We felt that it was important to have a surrogate home field that had similarities to BMO Field, in dimension, surface characteristics, and field quality,” Toronto FC General Manager Ali Curtis said. “Also, from a competitive standpoint, a priority was to have our own home field. While playing at BMO Field is always our preferred and ideal option, we think the East Hartford location is the best available option for this next phase.”
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