The long-and-storied tradition of Orlando’s Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium will now see its future played out on AstroTurf®.
On June 21st, the Orlando City Council approved negotiations to allow the new, state-of-the-art AstroTurf® playing field to be installed. The installation process is well underway and is scheduled to be complete by September 5th for the Southern vs. Delaware State football game. You can see live video of the installation by going to www.astroturfusa.com.
“We at AstroTurf® are very pleased to have been chosen as the turf supplier for the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium,” said Rusty Russell, Southeastern Regional Sales Manager for AstroTurf®. “Their need for a championship playing field, coupled with the multiple-use needs of this facility required AstroTurf® to engineer the best surface solution for these unique demands.”
The Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium has hosted events ranging from the Capital One Bowl to high school championship games, major concerts and motorcross races, so the change to AstroTurf® is a critical component of keeping the stadium viable.
According to Russell, the company worked closely with Stantec, one of the world’s premier turf management and design firms and experts, to understand and respond to demanding performance requirements of the stadium’s surface.
AstroTurf® allows facilities the flexibility to host more events with less downtime and maintenance. Additionally, weather and its effect on the field play a reduced role. Ultimately, this translates into economic impact for the City of Orlando.
“This new AstroTurf® field is part of the City of Orlando’s $10 million investment in phase one improvements this year at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium,” said Orlando Venues Executive Director Allen Johnson. “These renovations will help the stadium remain competitive and allow us to sustain economic, educational and cultural opportunities here in Orlando for our residents and visitors.”
Florida Citrus Sports, an organization which hosts major events at the stadium, including the Capital One Bowl and the Champs Sports Bowl, will be one of the organizations which will benefit from the new field.
"We have been staging major events in the stadium for over 60 years where the athlete experience is of premium importance," said Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan. "A large number of events in a very short window have challenged the ability to provide optimum field conditions and paint schemes needed for national television. We are very excited about our ability to provide one of the safest, most technologically-advanced playing surfaces in the industry to our customer."
The Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium will employ AstroTurf® GameDay Grass™ 3D, the synthetic turf industry’s latest and most-advanced product in the evolution of sports playing surfaces.
GameDay Grass™ 3D utilizes a rubber infill system, composed of highly-durable rubber, extracted from post-consumer recycled tires by certified recyclers all across the U.S., keeping up to 20,000 tires from being placed in landfills. These materials have been rigorously tested by the international scientific communities for both environmental and human health hazards and have been found to pose no risks.
The super-stable, multi-ply primary backing systems are covered with a heavy polyurethane, environmentally-friendly BioCel™ coating for uniformity, consistency and precise performance across the entire field. The BioCel™ system provides further environmental benefits in that it employs highly-refined coal fly ash and bio-based polyols from soybeans.
The typical, well-maintained grass field can use anywhere from 500,000-1,000,000 gallons of water per year. The AstroTurf® field eliminates that need, as well as the need for pesticides and other chemicals.
The Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium turf will also feature astroflect™ technology, significantly reducing field surface temperatures.
AstroTurf® has made an investment in furthering research on synthetic turf and natural grass fields and partnered with the University of Tennessee to create The Center for Safer Athletic Fields. Additionally, in a study at Michigan State University funded by NFL Charities, an AstroTurf® product was determined to perform most like natural grass.
AstroTurf® is also the only synthetic turf company that makes the product from start to finish, making it the only vertically integrated company in the industry.
“We are proud of our partnership with the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium,” said Bryan Peeples, President of AstroTurf®. “The athletes who play there will now represent their sport on the gold standard of synthetic playing fields. We are happy to be part of the future of the stadium.”
About AstroTurf®
For many athletes and sport enthusiasts, the AstroTurf® brand has redefined the way the game is played. The company offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies, leveraging the industry’s only vertically integrated manufacturing system. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf®-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority and safety. Recent innovations from AstroTurf include GameDay Grass™ 3D with RootZone®, a polyethylene/nylon hybrid system which most closely replicates natural grass; TurfAide™, a non-chemical antimicrobial shield protecting against MRSA and other infectious bacteria; and astroflect™ Technology which significantly reduces turf surface temperatures. To learn more, visit www.astroturfusa.com.
About Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium
Orlando’s Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium opened in 1936. The stadium currently seats 65,438, but can expand to accommodate more than 70,000 fans. The Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium hosts the Capital One Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, neutral-site college football games, the UFL’s Florida Tuskers and Florida high school football state championships. In the past, the stadium has hosted the Tangerine Bowl, several professional football teams, NFL preseason games, World Cup and Olympic soccer matches and Wrestlemania.
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