GreenFields Turf for Dallas Cowboys Stadium

Football turf for Cowboys Stadium

The new home of the Dallas Cowboys (Cowboys Stadium) in Arlington, Texas may be the biggest and best NFL stadium ever built, but it’s also a truly multipurpose venue to boot. As well as pro football, this facility will allow crowds of up to 100,000 to also enjoy college football and soccer matches. Hosting three different sports series at the same facility meant integrating something that has never been seen before in North America – the ability to switch between three removable playing surfaces.

The installation of the multisurface system was handled by Hellas Construction, which has laid turf at universities and stadia around the southern USA and beyond. Supply of the three surfaces was split between two companies   Lenzing Plastics for the American football fields, and Greenfields for the soccer pitch. The latter was selected because of its experience in soccer turf, and its ability to produce a FIFA 2 Star graded surface – the company has more than 15 current 2 Star installations in Europe, South America and Africa. Around 9,400m2 of REAL FT 40-18 V-slide artificial turf was produced by Greenfields in Holland and then shipped to the North American venue, ready for installation. The choice of turf was a relatively straightforward one for Greenfields.

“The selection was a very simple exercise of looking at nature and seeing how it functions, finding out the basic characteristics and taking these traits into synthetic turf,” says the company’s Arnoud Fiolet. “You see a lot of shapes (of blades) in the turf industry, but the optimum shape is a ‘V’ shape, which we have copied from the natural shape of a blade of grass.”

The backbone of the blade also ensures a reinforced fibre, allowing each blade to immediately spring back to its upright position after impact. For longevity, this fibre is UV stable, as well as durable. The soft feel also ensures that injuries from impact with skin are kept to a minimum. 

Photo: Brendan Pittman – Courtesy of Hellas Construction Inc.