Bradenton Convention Center Announces Partnership with Hartford Athletic

December 5, 2022 – Bradenton

 Hartford Athletic along with the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (BACVB) have announced a new cross-promotional partnership planned for the coming year.

As part of the partnership, the Bradenton Area will be the official spring training home of Hartford Athletic, training on the BACVB’s soccer fields of Premier Sports Campus (PSC) in the Bradenton Area’s fast-growing Lakewood Ranch, Fla. Premier Sports Campus features 23 FIFA-regulation sized fields for play ranging from community level to national and international events, with a 3,000+ seat stadium with scoreboards and a press box. 

The BACVB’s logo will be placed on jersey sleeves for both home and away uniforms of the Athletic. The BACVB logo will also be placed on marketing and advertising promotions throughout the Athletic materials in the Hartford area, including on TV broadcasts of Athletic matches.

The partnership was announced during a World Cup Watch Party for the key group matchup of USA vs. Iran on Nov. 29.

The Athletic-BACVB partnership comes about less than one year after Breeze Airways launched nonstop service between Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) and Hartford’s Bradley International Airport. Athletic fans can now jump on the Breeze flight to Sarasota-Bradenton and be an easy 30-minute drive to catch the team at PSC or to the sugar-white sands of Anna Maria Island. 

Elliott Falcione, Executive Director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said since launching in June, the Breeze route connecting Sarasota-Bradenton to Hartford has proven to be a great success. The BACVB’s partnership with The Athletic, he said, is a sign of further strengthening the ties between Hartford and the Bradenton Area. 

“We’re thrilled to announce this new partnership with the Hartford Athletic,” Falcione said. “We think the athletes are going to enjoy training in the Bradenton Area during a perfect time of year and we feel in our hearts that they will come back for many years to come. The fans are going to have new reasons to visit the Bradenton Area and they’ll discover the quick, easy ways to get here with more travel options than ever. And maybe best of all, we’re giving Bradenton Area residents a new way to connect with professional soccer that has become as popular in the U.S. as it is around the world.” 

“We are thrilled to add BACVB to our growing list of corporate partners,” said Joel Conybear, Hartford Athletic SVP, Integrated Sales. “Our team has been energized by the creativity that the BACVB team has brought to the table and we look forward to a number of fun fan activations throughout the rest of the year. We are incredibly excited to send our athletes to the beautiful Bradenton area for a warm and comfortable Spring Training that will properly prepare them for the start of the season.”

The Athletic competes in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system. The league includes top players from around the world who regularly compete in international competition. League matches are available nationwide on ESPN+ with select matches broadcast across linear ESPN channels.