New $1.15-billion Cowboys Stadium opens with soccer matches
22 Jul, 2009 Athletic Turf NewsARLINGTON, TX — The first football games at Cowboys Stadium were not American football, but the world’s football… soccer.
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Mexico beat Haiti 4-0 and Costa Rica beat Guadeloupe 5-1 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinal matches held at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington on Sunday, July 19th.
These matches were the first sporting events held at Cowboys Stadium, and the first showcase of how the $1.15 billion stadium and its interchangeable turf system will work for much more than just Dallas Cowboys football games.
The 82,252 fans attending the matches comprised the third largest number of fans for a Gold Cup game in the United States and the largest soccer crowd ever in Texas.
Hellas Construction of Austin installed the removable turf system at Cowboys Stadium, the first three-field conversion turf system in the United States. The “roll-up” turf system can easily transform the playing surface, depending upon the scheduled event — from football, to soccer, to concerts or other events.
“We have a lot of different types of events already scheduled, so having the flexibility to change the field is very important to us,” said Jack Hill, General Manager of Cowboys Stadium. “It is a one-of-a-kind, and adds another first to not only the largest stadium in the nation, but the most unique.”
“The technology is quite unique,” said Reed J. Seaton, President and CEO of Hellas Construction. “It allows the stadium to convert from pro football to college football to soccer or lacrosse in a relatively short period of time, so they can host any kind of sporting event and give the uniqueness of the kind of synthetic turf they want to play on.”
It is critical to quickly transform the field into various event configurations. The patented SoftTop Removable System from Sportfield, the same company that manufactured the turf at the old Dallas Cowboys’ stadium, Texas Stadium, is made of interchangeable panels, about 5 yards wide each, that make up three different fields. The field can be converted within 24 hours, and when not used, the panels are rolled-up and stored below the stadium, said Bruce Layman, vice president of Sportfield LLC.
The turf will be slightly thicker for football, Layman said, and will be separated from the stadium's concrete floor by a half-inch pad designed to allow water to drain through it.
The SoftTop system is composed of Matrix turf, a monofilament spinneret yarn made up of different sizes and colors.Find more information on the SoftTop Removable System at http://www.dallascowboysturf.com. On the site you will see three different fields available at the new stadium, as well as video and sound bites from Hellas and Dallas Cowboys leadership.
Up next are two football fields — one for the Cowboys, another for college and high school games. But not before real grass is trucked in for another soccer match. On July 26 Club America plays Chelsea in an exhibition.
But grass won't be a permanent fixture at the stadium. The great majority of events there, including the 2011 Super Bowl, will take place on artificial turf.
Cowboys debut Aug. 21
The Cowboys make their debut Aug. 21 in a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans — two days after Paul McCartney plans the venue's third concert.
Five college games, including the Big 12 championship and the Cotton Bowl are scheduled for the stadium's augural year. The large number of college and high school games figured into the decision to have three different synthetic turf surfaces, according to stadium management.
In addition to the Cowboys' first regular season in their new home the stadium will host a U2 concert in October and a Texas-North Carolina basketball game in December. The stadium will host next year's NBA All-Star game and the 2014 Final Four.
"GreenFields Synthetic Turf for new Dallas Cowboys Stadium," News Release, July 21
"Cowboys installng first field at new stadium," by Schulyer Dixon, Associated Press, July 9
"Stadium installing synthetic turf for soccer match," by Rob Phillips,cowboys.com, July 9
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