The Cincinnati Bearcats have unveiled new field turf for the 2016 season to accommodate for FC Cincinnati’s inaugural season at Nippert Stadium.
The previous turf, just a few years old, was of course sold to a Missouri High School. I had originally figured UC would send it a few miles up the road to Camp Higher Ground in West Harrison, Indiana, whose turf, I believe, hasn’t been changed since the Bearcats made the move from Conference USA to the Big East over a decade ago. So, it’s a little bit on the old side.
But making a few dollars (450,000 of them), certainly isn’t a bad decision for the athletic department to make. Anyways, here’s the new turf design at Nippert Stadium for the upcoming football season, which I absolutely love, along with the press release from UC.
"CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati department of athletics is replacing the artificial surface inside historic Nippert Stadium in preparation for the inaugural season of FC Cincinnati, the city’s newest professional soccer franchise.FCC, a United Soccer League (USL) franchise, will serve as a secondary tenant in Nippert with the team’s season running from April through October. The soccer organization is financing the turf project and the club’s inaugural home game is set for Saturday, April 9, 2016 against Charlotte.“We are excited about this important element in our partnership with FC Cincinnati,” UC Director of Athletics Mike Bohn said. “Maintaining our iconic football branding on the field is important to our team and fan base. We are pleased to partner with FCC and UBU on a state-of-the-art versatile surface which gives us multiple options for end zones and surface markings. The ability to draw broad based sports fans to our nationally recognized campus to showcase the great work going on in and out of the classroom is a boost to our institution.”“Everyone associated with FC Cincinnati are privileged for the opportunity to partner with the University of Cincinnati in order to host our home games at historic Nippert Stadium,” said Jeff Berding, FC Cincinnati’s President and General Manager. “The new turf from UBU will preserve the energetic UC football markings, while allowing for an authentic soccer field as required for our games. We believe this is a win-win partnership – college students will enjoy another sporting season between March Madness and football, thousands of youth soccer players will come to games with their parents and our players and fans will have the benefit of the best facilities in the United Soccer League.”The state-of-the-art artificial turf is UBU Sports’ Speed M6-M product. The surface is scientifically engineered with a 61-ounce monofilament fiber and mixed rubber/sand infill, which ensures a fast, firm and safe playing surface. The surface will be entirely green with no permanent markings to enable maximum versatility and tailor the surface for UC, FCC and other potential tenants.Additionally, UC has contracted Pioneer Paints to coordinate the painting of both football and soccer fields. The painting will be applied in a way that no soccer lines will be visible on the turf during UC football games, even when the seasons overlap.For UC football games, seven of which will take place on the Nippert turf this fall, convertible end zones and center logo pieces will be inserted for gamedays. This system is similar to the one in place at MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants and New York Jets.Nippert Stadium has featured a UBU Speed Series artificial surface since 2013. UBU’s portfolio includes Paul Brown Stadium, the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans and MetLife Stadium among others.The existing turf will be sold to Reeds Spring High School in Reeds Spring, Missouri, but UC will retain both the custom end zone and midfield pieces for future use. No structural changes to the stadium’s seating bowl or brick field perimeter are planned for the 2016 season.Nippert Stadium has undergone $86-million in improvements which saw capacity upgraded to 40,000 fans, the addition of all new concourses, concessions and restrooms and the building of the 105,000 square foot west pavilion which holds new media facilities, 1,100 club seats and 53 indoor and outdoor suites of various sizes.Original construction began on Nippert Stadium in 1915 and was completed in 1924. UC has used the Nippert site as a playing field since 1901, making it the second-oldest playing site in the nation for college football behind Penn’s Franklin Field (1895)."