March 2, 2019
Chase Family Arena (Capacity: 3,507)
West Hartford, CT
Hartford Hawks vs Albany Great Danes
Final Score: 82 – 80 (OT)
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In between winter storms, I made a trip to Connecticut for some last season basketball. The city of Hartford is in the middle of the state along the Connecticut River and is perhaps best known as being the Insurance Capital of the World. Right next door is West Hartford, an affluent suburb of 64,000 and the University of Hartford sits right on the border between the two cities. This private school fields a basketball team that began Division I play in 1985. There is not much to write home about for their history as they have yet to place higher than 3rd in the Regular Season standings of the America East Conference. Upon arrival, fans are hoping this might be the year to get to the Tournament as their senior-laden team was heading into the AE Playoffs on a hot streak. Hartford plays in the Chase Family Arena, opened in 1990 and part of the larger Reich Family Pavilion, which contains several offices and other athletic facilities. The basketball court is a disjointed and exposed place that doesn’t create a comfortable setting. Fans though made up for the experience on this day.
Prestige Ranking: 2 out of 5
Location
Campus is about 10 minutes from the center of West Hartford (which has a cluster of restaurants) and downtown Hartford. This is where the historic Old State House can be found, along with the Connecticut Science Center. Also, a similar distance away is the area’s most popular attraction, the Mark Twain House & Museum. Sitting next to a golf club and some wooded housing developments, the University of Hartford features a generally dull and tired looking campus.
Location Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
It was a blah drive coming from Bloomfield Ave as I made my way to the back of the school, where the athletic facilities sit. The arena building has two parking lots in front and back, with the latter being riddled by potholes and gravely crust. These likely aren’t enough to hold everybody if there is a big crowd and I’m assuming that another parking area by the baseball field can be used (there is no parking information on the team’s website). Even though the exit out of the lot isn’t great by design, it doesn’t take long to leave. As for reaching the area, roads from all directions access Hartford, led by I-84 and I-91. It’s about 10 minutes from the interstate on roads that are easy to navigate.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Exterior
There are a lot of different attachments to the facility given the amount of stuff it holds inside. The basketball arena portion takes up most of it and the surprisingly large complex has the look of a bubbly plus sign with a roof that has an arc to it. This material is a bland, beige concrete. It gets better at the front of the building where a logo and red font on the wall welcomes you to the “Home of the Hartford Hawks”. There’s also a more appealing brick outline for the lobby in this area.
Exterior Ranking: 5 out of 10
Concourse
The entrance lobby is a tight clustering of people who are meeting others, trying to get in or squeezing over to the ticket windows. There is too much going on in this disorganized space and I’d be concerned if they ever get a big crowd since just one person was scanning tickets. This area includes a small bathroom, a food stand and a few tables. Doors to the labelled Chase Family Arena are straight-ahead. Corners inside the gym are open, however the space is barely used as a snack table/stand is here or there.
Concourse Ranking: 1 out of 5
Food
Food is as limited as you would expect. “Hot Food” to go along with snacks consist of Chicken Tenders, Pizza, Hot Dog and a Pretzel. Non-alcoholic drinks are more diversified (cappuccino!?).
Food Ranking: 2.5 out of 8
Interior
Chase Arena features disjointed seating and an exposed look with a variety of pipes and trusses. End sections are similar in that they are in the form of wooden bleachers that are uncomfortable and with a view that leaves a lot to be desired. Sides aren’t better even though they feature individual chairs. These red, plastic seats are so cheaply built that their attachment to other seats means that if somebody sits back, you feel that rocking. After a while, it is like you are on an amusement park ride and it got so annoying that I left to seek out my own row with no one in it. The view isn’t great either as seats extend further back, not up. Fans access each seating area by walking a space between the court and first row. Above each lower sideline seating is a separate upper area that has a better view. One is a VIP section, accessed by a loosely guarded staircase in the lobby. The other is an open-to-everybody “Gallery”. This movie-theatre like area features cushioned chairs and carpeted floors. It’s a nicer spot to be even though the seats are set well from the court. The arena does have a few neat elements like the roof that reminded me of my days as a youngster going to Saint Lawrence Church. There’s also some red character displayed about.
Interior Ranking: 4.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
High up on each end wall is a scoreboard that has game info at the top and player stats on the side. In the center is a video screen that is quite fuzzy and poor in quality. It shows the ESPN+ broadcast, which is nice, but more than half the time you can’t make out what you’re looking for since the picture is that bad. Multiple spots on the scoreboard feature a Hartford wordmark or logo.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2 out of 4
Displays
Each section of the facility is named after some person or family and near the front entrance is a dedication plaque to the Reich family. Most of the school’s best displays can be found in the VIP section, but since the general fan can’t go up there, then it is not recognized. Chase Arena features women’s basketball banners being the most prominent as their early century success is honored nicely (that includes an NCAA Tournament win in 2006). For the men, banners are hung by the end scoreboard and they feature Division II NCAA berths and a CIT honor. There’s also the retired #42 for Vin Baker.
Displays Ranking: 2 out of 6
Cost
With parking being free, the entire event could cost as low as $5 as that is the price for the bleacher seats. You probably could wait until later in the first half to move to an open Reserved or Gallery section, as they go for $15 and $12 respectively. Concessions are cheap as a Hot Dog is $3, water costs $2 and the most expensive item is the chicken tenders at $5.
Cost Ranking: 8 out of 8
Fan Support
Hartford plays in one of the lower drawing conferences in the country and they ranked 5th in America East attendance last year. This year has been borderline pathetic as the paid average is just 913. For this game on Senior Day, a little more than 1,000 came out. UConn dominates the sports scene so much that I found zero coverage of the Hawks in the Hartford Courant (local paper) and TV news stations, which is a shame as this team has been playing well of late.
Fan Support Ranking: 2 out of 8
Atmosphere
In a place that struggles to draw fans, the atmosphere was quite a surprise. The crowd responded well to each basket and when the Hawks came out on a 10-0 run to cut the Albany lead in half, the gym was loud and several were on their feet going to the timeout. During the final minutes, there were decent roars after each home bucket and the crowd mostly stood on the final possession. They gave the team a hearty cheer at the end of their win. Being that it was Senior Day with plenty of player families in the crowd, that probably helped. Still, this was a nice surprise and the small pep band with formidable sound enhanced the game atmosphere.
Atmosphere Ranking: 8 out of 14
Other Stuff
OK Public Announcer Dude, let’s take it down a few notches. You don’t have to scream each player’s last name after a basket as the sound is grating. Your jokes aren’t funny and it was not cool at halftime when you announced the winner of a prize and gave them 15 seconds or so to reach the court to claim it. Going to the 4th name down the list should’ve given you a clue to provide them time to walk to the court since you then had 3 people eventually arrive and 2 of them were quite disappointed……I did really like Coach John Gallagher. During Senior Day festivities, he gave each player and family member a warm embrace and had visible emotion about how much he cares about them. It was also cool to hear him get on the microphone after the game, imploring fans to come out again Tuesday Night and make some noise as the Hawks try to earn the 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament……To those directing the cheerleaders: Great idea to have them line the entrance as that is a nice welcome to fans entering the arena. Bad idea to have them stand in the aisles until the first Hawks basket (they’re in the way!)
Game
What a game this was and it started poorly for the home side as they were down 45-29 at the half. In the second, the Hawks exploded out of the gate with a 10-0 run. It was a fascinating contest the rest of the way as Harford could never get over the hump. They did get the game tied with under four minutes to play and near the end of the game, Albany missed on a chance to take a late lead. Hartford went the other way and after a fadeaway badly missed, the rebound got tapped out to Jason Dunne. He got off a last second long three-point heave, but it hit the back of the rim and the second carom bounced off the front rim as the crowd did a double groan. High theatre. In overtime, the Hawks went on a 10-0 run again and built enough of a lead to last through to the end as they won a thriller 82-80. George Blagojevic had 22 points and J.R. Lynch had 9 assists for Hartford.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
