Now that the city of Hartford has officially approved a baseball stadium to house the Rock Cats, the team is preparing for a new chapter and that may include a new name.
And team is throwing it to the fans to choose what it will be called with its "Name the Team" contest.
“This is an exciting time with our franchise moving to Hartford, and we are asking the community to play an integral role in choosing our team’s name. Hartford has a rich history of sports, and we look forward to continuing this tradition with affordable family entertainment in the Capital City,” team owner Josh Solomon said in a statement.
The contest launches on Feb. 17 at 1:30 p.m., when Hartford is slated to break ground on the new Downtown North development. Fans can enter the contest on the team's new website.
Fans are invited to suggest a name that includes Hartford and include descriptions of their ideas.
The fan whose idea leads to a new name will be rewarded with two lifetime season tickets to see the team play, a team jacket and baseball hat and a photo in the game program.
Four runners up will win a pair of season tickets for the first season.
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A selection committee will choose 10 entries, which will then be posted on the website so fans can vote March 4-11.
Fans will then able to vote on the top five entries starting March 11. The team will reveal the winner on March 18.
If there are multiple winners, the contest committee will pick one of the tying winners at random.
The Rock Cats' move to Hartford will bring professional baseball to the city for the first time in 60 years.
The new baseball park is intended to "anchor" the Downtown North redevelopment project between I-84 and I-91, according to the Rock Cats.
It's scheduled to open in April 2016 in time for the start of the Minor League baseball season.
