Badgers Choose FieldTurf
May 20, 2003 | Football
The University of Wisconsin's historic Camp Randall Stadium will install FieldTurf on its grounds in time for the 2003 season. In addition, UW has selected FieldTurf as the new surface for the Badgers' practice field, located in the Dave McClain Athletic Facility. FieldTurf was chosen by UW officials over a number of other artificial turf bidders. The announcement was made jointly by UW Athletic Director Pat Richter and FieldTurf CEO John Gilman.
'Field Turf is certainly an industry leader in the artificial playing surface industry, and the University of Wisconsin is very pleased to have an agreement for its installation in Camp Randall Stadium and the McClain Facility," said Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Alvarez. 'We tested a number of surfaces and felt FieldTurf was an exceptional product in the areas of performance, resiliency, appearance, softness and overall quality. A number of like institutions and professional teams have chosen this surface and we're pleased to be joining a growing list of FieldTurf customers. '
Wisconsin will join more than 20 major NCAA universities that have FieldTurf in their stadiums, including Michigan, Nebraska, Washington, Oregon and Kansas State. Five NFL teams will play their 2003 home games on FieldTurf, including the Seattle Seahawks (Seahawks Stadium), Detroit Lions (Ford Field), New York Giants and Jets (Giants Stadium), and Atlanta Falcons (Georgia Dome).
'We're clearly the choice of those who know football and care about safety and performance,' said FieldTurf CEO John Gilman. 'Our product is clearly the best and safest turf on the market, and it's a tremendous honor for our company to be involved with a facility with the history and rich tradition of Camp Randall Stadium. I certainly want to personally thank Coach Alvarez for the confidence he has shown in FieldTurf. Badger fans will enjoy watching their team play on the 'greatest turf on earth'.'
Wisconsin conducted an extensive study of artificial playing surfaces and made a number of site visits to make comparisons. Former Badger and Baltimore Raven safety Donny Brady tested multiple surfaces ' one of which was the Green Bay Packers' FieldTurf surface at the Don Hutson practice facility -- and was extremely impressed with the FieldTurf product.
"Donny told us that FieldTurf was the most responsive and softest turf he tested," said Alvarez. "His assessment of the turf helped us confirm that our decision to go with FieldTurf would provide our student-athletes with the best footing available."
FieldTurf's patented vertical drainage system was another factor that helped in landing the prized UW account. 'FieldTurf has vertical drainage, as opposed to horizontal drainage,' said FieldTurf Midwest sales representative George Kearney, a former football coach at Kent State. 'Certainly, on a really cold day, we didn't want Wisconsin's players to have to contend with water being retained in the turf system. Many of our competitors manufacture an all-rubber infill that tends to attract water molecules. Given the climatic conditions in Madison, we are confident that UW has made the best choice, and that FieldTurf will perform extraordinarily for the Badgers.'
In recent weeks, FieldTurf has been selected for installation at Giants Stadium, the Georgia Dome, the University of Missouri's Faurot Field and the Denver Broncos' practice complex. The flurry of activity comes on the heels of the NFL Players Association's recent league-wide survey in which the players resoundingly selected FieldTurf as their artificial surface of choice. In the survey of 1,280 NFL players who were asked to rank the league's 32 stadium fields on a variety of factors, FieldTurf (at Seattle's Seahawks Stadium) ranked third, which marked the first time that an artificial surface had ever cracked the top ten. NFL players rated FieldTurf ahead of 20 of the league's 22 natural grass fields.
'Our system is the best there is, and UW will be getting the product with the best performance, durability and safety record in the industry,' said Gilman.
