New FieldTurf Surface Installed at Gillette Stadium

Gator Mike said:

According to Twitter, a new playing surface was installed at Gillette Stadium over the past couple of weeks and will make it's debut this weekend during a Revolution home game. Supposed to be "State of the Art" stuff.

Still don't understand how Lambeau Field can have grass, while Gillette needs to go with the fake stuff, but whatever...

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You...you were around, I presume when the Gillette "grass" was basically dirt painted green, right? It was an embarrassment and looked terrible in the early days of HDTV's. This is the way to go if the Krafts insist on having soccer/college football games on that surface on Saturdays and professional football on Sundays.

Gator Mike said:

According to Twitter, a new playing surface was installed at Gillette Stadium over the past couple of weeks and will make it's debut this weekend during a Revolution home game. Supposed to be "State of the Art" stuff.

Still don't understand how Lambeau Field can have grass, while Gillette needs to go with the fake stuff, but whatever...

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Supposedly there's not enough sunlight to support grass in gilllette through January. Maybe Lambeau lets in more light? I have no idea if it does but that was the reason given anyway.

We could probably have as nice and well-maintained grass field in the Patriots were the only user of the field. Does Green bay share their facility?

Gillette is multi-purpose, though, with soccer and other events. Doesn't Bob even let the high schools play their championships at Gillette?

Grass fields in New England just don't stand up to multi-purpose use in the fall & winter so I think field turf is the right call. With technological advances in turf design, I think frequent updating is the right call too.

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

We could probably have as nice and well-maintained grass field in the Patriots were the only user of the field. Does Green bay share their facility?

Gillette is multi-purpose, though, with soccer and other events. Doesn't Bob even let the high schools play their championships at Gillette?

Grass fields in New England just don't stand up to multi-purpose use in the fall & winter so I think field turf is the right call. With technological advances in turf design, I think frequent updating is the right call too.

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True but Gillette Stadiums grass was probably the worst in the NFL. How could it be worse than the frozen tundra up in GB?

Maybe I answered my own question.

bresna said:

A little while ago, I read about some studies that were done to correlate playing on field turf to higher incidences of cancer. You have to wonder if the Patriots aren't doing frequent changes like this as a preemptive measure in case these studies are onto something.

New turf might shed less than old turf. And if the Patriots have the money, they should be able to use virgin rubber chips made specifically for their field as opposed to using ground-up used car tires like the rest of the world.

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So do you think Goodell is going to charge the Patriots with trying to cause cancer in opposition players?

Bill Lee said:

Different strokes for different folks... Glad the ownership is spending millions of dollars to try to make things better. It could just be that the product has gotten better over the years, or there was some problem with the earlier product, etc.

I know some folks here want to go back to the days of broke-ass Billy Sullivan owning the joint and miss the aluminum seat with puddles of Shaefer beer everywhere and parking in the mud, but I'm not one of them.

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Yeah, I am so happy we got that ****ing ****hole of a VIP area in the back of the endzone instead of the useless peasant seats that were there before..

Average yearly rainfall:
Green Bay.......29"
Foxborough....49"

Average December temperature (high/low):
Green Bay ..........29/14
Foxborough........41/24

blackglass3 said:

Why do they do this so often? This is the 3rd time I recall them installing new turf since 06. I thought a big draw of this stuff was it would last for decades?

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Not an expert but fake turf becomes compressed, loosened and worn down over time. Manufacturers say it should be replaced every 8-10 years but depending on the frequency and type of use, it might need to be replaced more often.

Gator Mike said:

According to Twitter, a new playing surface was installed at Gillette Stadium over the past couple of weeks and will make it's debut this weekend during a Revolution home game. Supposed to be "State of the Art" stuff.

Still don't understand how Lambeau Field can have grass, while Gillette needs to go with the fake stuff, but whatever...

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I don't think Lambeau gets used for as many different events, including concerts and regular soccer matches, as Gillette.

blackglass3 said:

Why do they do this so often? This is the 3rd time I recall them installing new turf since 06. I thought a big draw of this stuff was it would last for decades?

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I think that the Krafts have a bigger budget than local high schools and colleges. Plus, they're protecting a bigger investment in the health of their rosters.

robertweathers said:

Not an expert but fake turf becomes compressed, loosened and worn down over time. Manufacturers say it should be replaced every 8-10 years but depending on the frequency and type of use, it might need to be replaced more often.

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...and, depending on the depth of the pockets of the owners, it will be "replaced more often."

PatsFanSince74 said:

...and, depending on the depth of the pockets of the owners, it will be "replaced more often."

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Very true. My kids play a ton of outdoor sports and some of these turf fields look like the old Veterans Stadium in Philly or that hellhole Expos Stadium. Ain't cheap.

I'm sure there has been some kind of study done which shows the older the turf, a gradual increase in injuries is shown. Of course, the study was done by the manufacturer or the turf

PatsFanSince74 said:

I don't think Lambeau gets used for as many different events, including concerts and regular soccer matches, as Gillette.

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It certainly doesn't get used in January as often.

PatsWSB47 said:

Gillette had grass until 2006 when it was torn up and replaced with turf after a Jets game when the Pats couldn't get any footing on the muddy field.

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Maybe slightly OT, but some of the ugliest games in the Brady/Belichick era that I can think of have some against the Jets. 2006 vs. Jets, 2007 vs. Jets, and 2013 vs. Jets... all at Gillette.

Bill Lee said:

Different strokes for different folks... Glad the ownership is spending millions of dollars to try to make things better. It could just be that the product has gotten better over the years, or there was some problem with the earlier product, etc.

I know some folks here want to go back to the days of broke-ass Billy Sullivan owning the joint and miss the aluminum seat with puddles of Shaefer beer everywhere and parking in the mud, but I'm not one of them.

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Belichick does like natural grass. The only problem is here in New England, the weather is just crazy. If you don't like the weather, just wait. This wreaks havoc on everything that's trying to grow from the soil. Grass in the future is a possibility, but for the sake of convenience and practicality, they made the smart move today.

Previously, the move back to grass at old Foxborough Stadium was a huge step up from the old, cheap, concrete Astro-Turf that was there before. Grogs, Mosi, Hannah et al. might not have got so damn banged up over their careers but for that.

KontradictioN said:

Maybe slightly OT, but some of the ugliest games in the Brady/Belichick era that I can think of have some against the Jets. 2006 vs. Jets, 2007 vs. Jets, and 2013 vs. Jets... all at Gillette.

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And the 2004 game vs the Jesters at Gillette was no thing of beauty either.

captain stone said:

And the 2004 game vs the Jesters at Gillette was no thing of beauty either.

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The '01 Mo Lewis game at the old stadium was brutal.

nabwong said:

Well, there was that one playoff game.... still too soon?

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Stop trying to rewrite history. That game was never actually played. You're having a false memory. It never happened.

Played soccer when I was younger and wish they had all these cool stuff back then, would have saved me bunch of knee injuries lol.

I also agree the new turf is definitely the way to go.

New turf and Brady on the Madden cover. I'm concerned.