NFL Stadium Installed Brand New Field During Middle Of The Season
11/13/2024 04:17 PM
The NFL season is roughly halfway over, but that didn't stop one team from completely changing their playing surface.
For the third year in a row, one team has swapped out its field in the middle of the season to help promote player safety.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Denver Broncos have changed the playing surface at Empower Field at Mile High for the third straight year.
For the third consecutive year, the Broncos have proactively installed a brand new field in-season at Empower Field at Mile High in the interest of player safety.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 13, 2024
The team brought in 14 truckloads of Kentucky Bluegrass from a turf farm in Platteville, Colo., and completed the… pic.twitter.com/skkvSByRFX
The team brought in 14 trucks filled with Kentucky bluegrass from a farm in Platteville, Colorado - around an hour from Denver. The team's grounds crew was then able to get the field ready in just 36 hours, days ahead of the Broncos' next home game against the Atlanta Falcons.
The tradition began ahead of the final game of the regular season in 2022, when CEO Greg Penner and company oped to replace the team's field for $400,000.
In 2023, the field was once again replaced after Army and Air Force played at the stadium, giving the Broncos a fresh, new playing surface for the second half of the season.
Last year, the grass was once again sourced from the same farm in Platteville, with 13 trucks coming in to replace the field in around nine hours.
The Broncos will debut the new surface on Sunday afternoon against the Atlanta Falcons. The team is 5-5 after a pair of losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs, and they'll be facing a Falcons team that has split its last four games evenly.
The Broncos were close to ending the Chiefs' undefeated season last week, driving down the field in the final seconds to set up a potential game-winning field goal.
The attempt was blocked, giving Kansas City a narrow win to extend their unbeaten season with a 9-0 start. Last year's win in Denver was the Broncos' first over the Chiefs in their previous 16 attempts, and they've already dropped their first game against them in 2024.
We'll see what happens when the two teams face off in Denver on January 5 to end the regular season in Week 18.
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