Thankfully, there isn’t a lot going on this week in the USL Championship, the Pinnacle of CompetitionTM. However, I am interested to see whether Louisville City’s home opener opponent, Hartford Athletic, actually fields a team or has a place to play this coming season.

As I mentioned in a previous Purple Press post (a PPP, if you will), Hartford Sports Group (HSG) is being investigated for possibly breaking Connecticut campaign finance laws. HSG’s lead investor, Bruce Mandell, along with his wife and college-aged daughter, gave a total of $47,500 to the Connecticut Republican Party and their candidate for governor, Bob Stefanowski, in the last election cycle. Stefanowski was defeated in November.

The problem with those donations, is that they run afoul of state laws requiring that party and candidate campaign donors not also be the recipients or beneficiaries of government-funded projects, i.e. the Dillon Stadium rebuild which is mostly being done with government money. If Connecticut’s State Elections Enforcement Committee finds that Mandell’s contributions were illegal, HSG could be barred from contracting with the government to use the stadium.

That creates some serious problems for Hartford Athletic. Right now, they aren’t even scheduled to play a home game until their Week Nine match against Charlotte Independence on May 4. As the SEEC hasn’t ruled on the propriety or lack thereof of Mandell’s campaign contributions yet, the Dillon Stadium building contractor can’t continue doing work because it’s unclear whether HSG is legally allowed to sign the contract. If the renovation contractor isn’t working, the stadium isn’t being renovated. If the stadium isn’t being renovated, that May 4 match might not happen at Dillon Stadium because of building delays.

Hartford has alternatives like the cavernous Rentschler Field that US Soccer fans know so well, or a minor league baseball park that could be outfitted for soccer. Getting into either venue on the scheduled dates seems like it could be a big problem, though.

No matter how this gets resolved, it’s a bad look for Hartford Athletic and USL by proxy. Nothing like offseason drama down here in lower league soccer!

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