Hartford Business Journal

14 Hartford Business Journal • February 5, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com D espite growing up in New- ington and West Hartford, Bruce Mandell says Hart- ford was always where he and his family came for exciting sights, sounds — and sports. "My childhood experiences were in Hartford, going to The Bushnell,'' said the Connecticut businessman propos- ing a multimillion-dollar facelift to the city's Dillon Stadium in tandem with bringing a professional soccer team to the region. "Obviously, going to the Whalers was a big part of it, too." In high school, at West Hartford's Kingswood-Oxford School, he cap- tained the soccer and basketball teams, and played on the golf team, he said. Now, Mandell, a Woodbridge resident who tabled his law career to run his family's Newington direct-mail compa- ny, Data-Mail Inc., is combining — along with his two partners — his passion for sports, particularly soccer, and nose for business to bring pro soccer to Hartford for the first time. And it's not just his and Hartford Sports Group's (HSG) dream. The United Soccer League, sanctioned as a Division II pro league after dominant Major League Soccer, is eager to add Hartford as one of its newest pitch sites on its annual schedule, as early as spring 2019, USL officials said. Both Mandell and USL appear a big step closer to realizing their visions. In December, the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), as arms-length adviser to the city in reviewing proposals from Mandell and two other groups to rehabilitate Dil- lon Stadium for soccer and other activities, urged that the city negotiate a Dillon lease with Mandell's Hartford Sports Group. Mandell and his HSG partners — Hartford building contractor Joseph Calafiore Jr. and Hartford investment- fund operator Scott Schooley — are digging into their pockets to bring a pro-soccer franchise to the city. Mandell said they are committing $7 million to own and operate the club. HSG and the city are negotiating a stadium lease that, Mandell said, will include rent and revenue-sharing op- portunities for the city. Schooley, a lawyer and president of Woodside Capital Partners in down- town Hartford, said revamping Dillon and bringing pro soccer to the city is personal and less about making money. He said he rejected an offer to join the former Dillon Stadium development group whose pro-soccer and stadium- make- over efforts collapsed after it was made public that one of its principals — James C. Duckett Jr. — had a checkered legal history. Duckett was eventually charged, convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding the city out of more than $1 million in his effort to redevelop Dillon. His business partner, Mitch Ander- son, also plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and Field of Dreams Local business owners' passion for soccer and Hartford fuels latest Dillon Stadium quest Jake Edwards, President, United Soccer League Bruce Mandell (center) and co-partners Joseph Calafiore Jr. (left) and Scott Schooley (right) are making their best pitch to bring professional soccer to Hartford. They also propose to revitalize the city's Dillon Stadium, a South End landmark. PHOTO | BILL MORGAN RENDERINGS | CONTIBUTED GRAPHIC | CONTRIBUTED What is the United Soccer League? As part of its plan to redevelop Dillon Stadium, the Hartford Sports Group is trying to join the United Soccer League, or USL, a professional minor league organization. The Tampa, Florida-based league started eight years ago with 11 teams and now has more than 30 teams. Here's a map of the league's footprint. Source: USL

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