The Pats and the Revs opt for.... Fieldturf!

[Oldtimer]

Feb 22, 2010 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) ----The New England Patriots, the New England Revolution and FieldTurf have jointly announced that Gillette Stadium will be resurfaced with FieldTurf Duraspine PRO, the new standard in artificial turf and the latest turf innovation from FieldTurf (http://www.fieldturf.com/). The installation of FieldTurf's Duraspine PRO system is scheduled to begin today. Gillette currently plays host to the Patriots and the Revolution in addition to a variety of other activities including high school and NCAA championships.
The new FieldTurf (http://www.fieldturf.com/) system will be in place when the Revolution play their 2010 home opener on April 10 against Toronto FC.

:facepalm:

DeRo will be pleased. :rolleyes:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/new-england-patriots-new-england-revolution-choose-fieldturf-duraspine-pro/

[pekduck]

lol... the irony...

[Whoop]

LOL... the ironing.

[Oldtimer]

They could have saved some money and bought the old BMO Turf. I'm sure MLSE would have been glad to sell it to them. lol.

[MartinUtd]

Well... at least its new field turf

[Damien]

I wonder how Taylor Twellman feels about it...

[Hitcho]

One day, in a bright and glorious future, MLS will be big enough and successful enough that SSS will be mandatory and this kind of crap will not be tolerated. "Get an undersoil system like BMO Field or get the fuck out" is what people will be told. And by then, BMO Field will be a 40,000 capacity stadium with a dedicated SG stand and a strategically designed roof that keeps in the noise and the sunshine.

Until then, we have plastic, NFL lines, empty stands and doubts lingering over the very future of the sport and league.

Anyone got any nitrous oxide?

[dantdot]

LOL... the ironing.

The ironing is delicious.

[Canary Canuck]

It's unfortunate. They had grass for the first 4 years in that stadium. It was tough to maintain it late in the football season and after a rain storm in november 2006 they just said "fuck it" and put in fieldturf for the next Pats home game a week later.

The only good thing I can say is this new turf is the absolute best turf there is and it won't be beaten to death with traffic the way the BMO turf was.

[jabbronies]

So how many home openers are we involved with this year?? I count 3 (Columbus, NE and Toronto)

[Beach_Red]

It'll be interesting to see if it affects their ability to sign players.

[Technorgasm]

Idiots. . . . EAT our awesome surface bitches!

[Hitcho]

Agreed Beach. Especially players with knee issues.

Canary - wasn't our field turf touted as being top notch when we got it? Not sure, but thought I remembered hearing that at the time. Either way, whatever pounding our plastic took, grid iron games and training will place way, way more heavy traffic through the NE turf.

I get the difficulties they have, it must be hell to look after real grass in that scenario. All we can do is hope for the league to do well enough that SSS and real grass become the norm, if not mandatory, for all franchises. I hate that term. For all teams. :D

[Hitcho]

Techno - is that avatar Aragorn/Strider? :D

[Shakes McQueen]

FieldTurf is preferred for American football, and the bottom line is that the Patriots are the primary tenants in that stadium, by a huge margin.

The Revs won't get a proper grass field, until they are playing out of their own facility.

- Scott

[prizby]

no wonder Ralston left

[James Oliphant]

:facepalm:

DeRo will be pleased. :rolleyes:

I'm sure he will. The FieldTurf which was in place there was shit...this will be an all-new surface and should be in great shape when we travel there in April.

[rocker]

I didn't even think their last fieldturf was in as bad condition as TFC's was.

It should look OK for a few seasons.. NFL is only what, 10 games a year? Plus maybe 20 MLS games. What else goes on there? It's not ideal, but if we had the Argos in BMO we wouldn't have grass either... we'd have a pile of mud.

both the NFL and MLS team don't practice in the stadium during the week. I remember a video where the Revs take a bus to some other site for training.

[Canary Canuck]

Agreed Beach. Especially players with knee issues.

Canary - wasn't our field turf touted as being top notch when we got it? Not sure, but thought I remembered hearing that at the time. Either way, whatever pounding our plastic took, grid iron games and training will place way, way more heavy traffic through the NE turf.

Neither the Pats or the Revs practice in the stadium. It only gets used for games. That's 8 NFL home games and 15 home MLS games. That's about 54 hours of traffic per year. BMO got 16 hours of traffic EVERY DAY! The Field Turf we got was top notch but it was shot within months from overuse. Even Jimmy B said it was fine at first but quickly deteriorated into a rug on concrete.

Seattle fans rave about their surface being sooooo much better than BMO's. The truth is they got the exact same FIFA 2-star tested surface from the exact same company FieldTurf in Montreal. The only difference is that their stadium sits empty all day while BMO got trampled on 16 hours/day. Their's is still relatively pristine.

[Redcoe15]

I so laugh at New England.

http://www.dangerouslyawesome.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/simpsons_nelson_haha2uwr.jpg

[James17930]

It does seem like this is the best option for them -- remember the Pats have to play games in the snow sometimes.

Like someone said -- at least it's the latest, greatest stuff.

Same as in Seattle -- as long as they keep upgrading to new stuff every few years it should be good.

I'm sure it wouldn't even have been as much of an issue with us if there wasn't all the community usage.

[ag futbol]

The first consideration was probably the Pats, second cost, third something else, and then at priority #3000 if the Revs want what everybody else already wanted, Bob Kraft is in full agreement they can have it.

[stugautz]

The current FieldTurf in Foxborough didn't look in bad shape. I remember back when New England had grass, they'd let it grow extra long and add more water to the field when the Colts came to town to slow down their offense. Then as the Pats developed a more passing oriented attack, and the cost of grass became too much to maintain, the FieldTurf came in.

New England isn't the first stadium to switch from grass to turf. Cincinnati and Baltimore also made the switch.

[Detroit_TFC]

The first consideration was probably the Pats, second cost, third something else, and then at priority #3000 if the Revs want what everybody else already wanted, Bob Kraft is in full agreement they can have it.

LOL! I get the mental picture of Kraft having a big board meeting and when the Revs managers get up to give their presentation, everybody gets out their Blackberries and get up for coffee, start side conversations, etc.

[TFC Tifoso]

FieldTurf is preferred for American football, and the bottom line is that the Patriots are the primary tenants in that stadium, by a huge margin.

The Revs won't get a proper grass field, until they are playing out of their own facility.

- Scott


yep, this is right....I didn't know the Revs needed DeRo's permission before installing a new surface lol.....

[Hitcho]

Neither the Pats or the Revs practice in the stadium. It only gets used for games. That's 8 NFL home games and 15 home MLS games. That's about 54 hours of traffic per year. BMO got 16 hours of traffic EVERY DAY! The Field Turf we got was top notch but it was shot within months from overuse. Even Jimmy B said it was fine at first but quickly deteriorated into a rug on concrete.

Seattle fans rave about their surface being sooooo much better than BMO's. The truth is they got the exact same FIFA 2-star tested surface from the exact same company FieldTurf in Montreal. The only difference is that their stadium sits empty all day while BMO got trampled on 16 hours/day. Their's is still relatively pristine.

haha, not any more they won't, those plastic fckers! :D:D:D

Interesting point on the amount of usage BMO's turf got compared to the Revs/Pats. I wonder how much the overall standard of play at BMO will be improved by for both home and visiting teams with the grass down. There were some nasty bounces last season, and it must have been an issue with muscle fatigue by the end of the game, especially for the older players. OBW will hopefully have a much bigger spring in his step this season than he did at the abck end of 2009!

[Oldtimer]

yep, this is right....I didn't know the Revs needed DeRo's permission before installing a new surface lol.....

They don't, but DeRo's first MLS match this season will be on the stuff.

[TFC Tifoso]

^ what about Columbus?.....they're first...


oh well, let NE do what they like....they kinda need it with the Pats there....good thing we now have a single use facility!! (for the most part)......

[Oldtimer]

^ what about Columbus?.....they're first...




Columbus? What's that? :rolleyes: Never heard of the place. :D

[TFC Tifoso]

Columbus? What's that? :rolleyes: Never heard of the place. :D

its kinda like a sewage treatment facility in the states....only the sewage is real people....

[Parkdale]

I'll say it again - FieldTurf isn't that bad if it's used rarely and maintained frequently.

the turf at BMO field wasn't bad when it was installed (and I stood on it before the first TFC game).

the probelm was that it was used like 22 hours a day, and got crushed beyond repair.

You can't buy a ford focus, then try to use it like a taxicab and put 200,000km on it a year then expect an oil change to revive it.

[billyfly]

Blue Jays and Rogers Centre just got new Astroturf.

[Hitcho]

I'll say it again - FieldTurf isn't that bad if it's used rarely and maintained frequently.

the turf at BMO field wasn't bad when it was installed (and I stood on it before the first TFC game).

the probelm was that it was used like 22 hours a day, and got crushed beyond repair.

You can't buy a ford focus, then try to use it like a taxicab and put 200,000km on it a year then expect an oil change to revive it.

Pffft... so much for "built Ford tough" then! :D

[Hitcho]

Blue Jays and Rogers Centre just got new Astroturf.

Sounds perfect for the Argos! :D:D:D

[jloome]

It's not about reality, Parkie, it's about the perception of professionalism. They still haven't cottoned to the fact that the hardcore fan, who pretty much demands grass at SOME POINT, is the key demographic.

[Toronto Ruffrider]

^Perception is key with players as well. A lot of players prefer playing on inferior natural grass rather than superior field turf, for the simple fact that only grass is acceptable to said players. Even after Canada played its WCQ against Honduras in Montreal, our players preferred playing on that crappy pitch over the one at BMO.

[Hitcho]

It's not about reality, Parkie, it's about the perception of professionalism. They still haven't cottoned to the fact that the hardcore fan, who pretty much demands grass at SOME POINT, is the key demographic.

I'd like to think that this is true, but I'm not sure it is (yet). Soccer moms, families and corporate ticket holders probably don't give a monkey's about turf vs grass. And I'm willing to bet that in some MLS markets, that accounts for the vast majority of ticket sales or at least ticket revenue. Even in TO it must account for a pretty huge chunk of the ticket sales or ticket revenue.

I think it's fair to say that the hardcore fan who cares about grass is the future of the game if it's going to grow into a big player in NA (and I include in that group kids who play the game now and will in the future be looking for tickets), but I don't think we can call them the key demographic for current purposes. (Unless anyone has some stats and figures that say otherwise of course!)

[Beach_Red]

I'd like to think that this is true, but I'm not sure it is (yet). Soccer moms, families and corporate ticket holders probably don't give a monkey's about turf vs grass. And I'm willing to bet that in some MLS markets, that accounts for the vast majority of ticket sales or at least ticket revenue. Even in TO it must account for a pretty huge chunk of the ticket sales or ticket revenue.

I think it's fair to say that the hardcore fan who cares about grass is the future of the game if it's going to grow into a big player in NA (and I include in that group kids who play the game now and will in the future be looking for tickets), but I don't think we can call them the key demographic for current purposes. (Unless anyone has some stats and figures that say otherwise of course!)



"Key" demogaphic doesn't have to be the biggest, it just has to be a solid base.

Most sports teams in North America have a solid base and then a whole bunch of casual fans that show up for the playoffs.

If the base support is strong enough the team will do well, but if the base is too small and there are only casual fans it usually won't work.

[jloome]

I'd like to think that this is true, but I'm not sure it is (yet). Soccer moms, families and corporate ticket holders probably don't give a monkey's about turf vs grass. And I'm willing to bet that in some MLS markets, that accounts for the vast majority of ticket sales or at least ticket revenue. Even in TO it must account for a pretty huge chunk of the ticket sales or ticket revenue.

I think it's fair to say that the hardcore fan who cares about grass is the future of the game if it's going to grow into a big player in NA (and I include in that group kids who play the game now and will in the future be looking for tickets), but I don't think we can call them the key demographic for current purposes. (Unless anyone has some stats and figures that say otherwise of course!)

Not to roll the eyes too much Hitcho, but I thought it obvious I was talking about the key to selling the game, not the current statistical breakdown.

It's certainly the key in the communities where it's actually making money, which is the point I was trying to make. The future of the league depends on moving away from the soccer mom model and to the hardcore club supporter model.

[Hitcho]

^ Roll away Jezza! But I think we're on the same page having read your response. I dream of the day that TFC can fill an expanded north and south end wth SG type fans that sneer at the thought of a plastic playing surface (and have a whole bunch scattered down the sides, waiting for tickets in the fans ends to become available).