Dangling above field level at the biggest stadium to be used at the FIFA World Cup, 18 giant metal arms flood a newly laid grass pitch in an eerie pink glow.
The mission: Make sure the turf at the AT&T Stadium is match-ready — and controversy free — by the time the tournament begins.
The 94,000-capacity venue in Arlington, Texas, the home of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team, is to host more matches than any other venue during the World Cup, including group games involving Lionel Messi’s Argentina and Harry Kane’s England, as well as a semi-final.
Photo: Scott Wachter / Imagn Images
Like other repurposed NFL stadiums being used at the World Cup, organizers have replaced the synthetic turf with fresh grass.
A specially engineered natural grass pitch was laid on Tuesday, about 60cm above the Cowboys’ normal playing surface.
On Thursday, the seams between each individual roll of turf — each measuring 1.2m wide and 15m long — were still clearly visible.
Photo: AFP
AT&T Stadium general manager Tod Martin is confident that the surface will be in pristine condition by the time the Netherlands face Japan in the first game at the venue on June 14.
“Over the next few days and weeks, those will absolutely go away as that grass gets established and then just the grooming, the maintenance continues,” Martin said of the seams. “By the time match day one gets here, it’ll just be completely flush.”
The elaborate efforts to ensure perfect pitches at the World Cup come two years after playing surfaces at the Copa America held in the US faced sharp criticism.
Peru coach Jorge Fossati said the hastily laid grass pitch at the AT&T Stadium at the Copa in 2024 might have contributed to an Achilles injury sustained by defender Luis Advincula.
“It came out of nowhere,” Fossati said at the time. “I realize that this is a grass field today, but it’s not normal grass.”
Similar criticism was leveled at the surface used at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2024, another venue set to feature prominently at the World Cup.
“You’re playing on a football field, with laid grass that’s all patchy and it breaks up every step you take — it’s frustrating,” US midfielder Weston McKennie said at the time.
In Dallas, stadium chiefs are leaving nothing to chance as they aim to avoid a repeat of the Copa America controversies.
Martin said that about 45,000 hours of work was required to install the new pitch, which is made up of a Kentucky ryegrass blend of sod grown in Colorado before being transported to Texas in 24 refrigeration trucks.
A full irrigation system ensures the surface is properly watered, while the pitch will also be reinforced with plastic fibers ahead of the World Cup.
The metal arms suspended from the roof of the stadium and lowered above the pitch house grow lights that bathe the grass in a striking pink, but more importantly, boost photosynthesis.
Martin devised the system after visiting Wembley Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, where similar pitch maintenance techniques are in place.
“We specifically went to Wembley and Tottenham and talked with those guys ... and it was a sight to see for sure,” Martin said.
Wembley’s grow lights are mounted on wheeled structures rolled onto the pitch, while Tottenham’s system is raised hydraulically from the sidelines. Dallas’ set-up uses a similar technique, with frames suspended from the ceiling that can be raised.
FIFA head of pitch infrastructure Ewen Hodge described the Dallas set-up as a “very innovative step forward by the stadium.”
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