New Britain Stadium - New Britain Bees
- Vinny Martin
- Jul 14
- 5 min read
Photos by Vinny Martin and Paul Baker, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 2.57
New Britain Stadium 230 John Karbonic Way New Britain, CT 06051
Year Opened: 1996 Capacity: 6,146
Hard Hittin’ New Britain
New Britain Stadium opened in 1996 with a capacity of around 6,100. Located in Willow Brook Park, the stadium has a long history and has hosted a few teams at a few different levels of baseball.
Currently, the venue is home to the New Britain Bees of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. New Britain Stadium is the second highest capacity ballpark in the Futures League, behind Dodd Stadium, home of the Norwich Sea Unicorns. The Bees were originally a part of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) from their inception in 2015 to 2019.
The ballpark was formerly home to the New Britain Rock Cats of the AA Eastern League from 1996 to 2015, before the franchise relocated to Hartford. The Rock Cats, who were named the "Hardware City Rock Cats" after New Britain's nickname “Hardware City” for one season, were the AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins for a majority of their existence. Many notable names have played in New Britain, such as David Ortiz, Torii Hunter and Joe Mauer.
Food & Beverage 2
New Britain Stadium offers minimal but serviceable food and drink options on game days. There are two open concession stands on the main concourse, one serving classic ballpark options like Hot Dogs, Chicken Tenders and Italian Sausage, with the other offering snack items like popcorn and cotton candy. There is a stand serving a variety of domestic beers located right behind the main entrance.
Down the third and first baselines you will find the Alvarium Beer Hive and the Five Churches Brewing Skyline Sanctuary Beer Garden. Both are nice outdoor seating areas with great views of the game, but were not serving anything during this visit. It is possible that they open up for weekend games. Pepsi products are sold here at New Britain Stadium.
In general, the food and drink options here will not blow anyone away, but they get the job done at a very reasonable price.
Atmosphere 2
The Bees game day presentation is extremely laid back and minimal. Most summer collegiate teams supplement the on-field product with between-inning games, contests, mascots, or fan interaction. Here, none of that exists. It is limited to PA announcements and music, which may create a somewhat boring experience for the more casual Bees fans.
Being a former AA stadium, the venue itself is very large for summer collegiate baseball. The concourse is fairly large, and you can even hear the game being broadcasted in the concourse while you are stepping away from the game, which is a cool touch for this level of baseball. The stadium is also very well themed for its new tenant, as the entire concourse is covered in black and yellow. Although structurally in good condition, the stadium shows its age in several areas.
There are a few major flaws of the stadium's design, one of which being the scoreboard, which is very small and very hard to see from any seat. The stadium also lacks shady areas, making a mid-summer game on a hot day pretty uncomfortable.
Neighborhood 2
New Britain is a moderately sized city in central Connecticut, located about 10 miles away from the state capital of Hartford. New Britain is nicknamed “The Hardware City” as it contains the headquarters of Stanley Black and Decker. New Britain Stadium's former tenant actually used to go by the “Hardware City Rock Cats” for its first two years.
The area surrounding the ballpark is mostly a generic commercial area with not much in the name of things to do. New Britain High School is located close by, with its facilities, Beehive Field and Veterans Memorial Stadium, located on the same grounds as New Britain Stadium. Central Connecticut State University is also located about 10 minutes away.
Fans 2
New Britain Stadium's biggest flaw is its size. A summer collegiate baseball team will usually not draw enough fans to fill a stadium of this size, so unfortunately the place was very empty. A good majority of fans in attendance were in suites, or congregated under a small, shaded area behind home plate to escape the sun.
The fans who were in attendance made noise and seemed to be knowledgeable and passionate, but there definitely was no “buzz” in the stadium- no pun intended.
Access 4
New Britain Stadium is conveniently located immediately adjacent to Route 9, which serves as an easy expressway to Connecticut's major interstates of 91 and 84. Depending on what direction you are coming from, traffic around the major cities of Hartford and New Haven could be a pain when traveling to weeknight games, but in general, New Britain is very accessible.
New Britain Stadium has completely enclosed concourses that are very spacious. All walkways around the stadium are also very wide. The stadium is separated into a lower and upper bowl separated by that aforementioned walkway, with the lower bowl having folding plastic seats, and the upper-level having a mix of molded plastic seats and bleacher style seats. With the stadium typically being fairly quiet, it is easy to spread out and roam around to find a spot that works for you. The restrooms here are clean and very large. There are also ramps and handicap accessible seating on all sides of the stadium.
Return on Investment 4
A Bees game is one of the most affordable sporting experiences in central Connecticut. General admission is $9, which gives you access to any seats in the ballpark. Parking is also free.
Food is also very cheap, with almost all food items being available for $6 or less. Beer prices are a little on the pricier side relatively speaking, but also not bad with domestics being available for $8.
Extras 2
The New Britain Sports Hall of Fame is displayed in the concourse next to the team store, and is a nice tribute to hundreds of familiar athletes to come through the city.
Another point goes to the valiant effort to retheme the stadium around the Bees, with bold yellow and black concourse walls to a very nice indoor team store. You have to respect the investment which is rare for venues at the summer collegiate baseball level.
Final Thoughts
The Bees were dealt a unique situation with New Britain Stadium, having a much larger and more advanced facility than most other summer collegiate baseball teams. That creates a different but relatively unspectacular experience for summer ball. The emergence of Dunkin Park in nearby Hartford has taken professional baseball and maybe some general interest in baseball away from New Britain. With all that being said, New Britain Stadium is still a very affordable and easy night out at the ballpark that is worth a visit.
