LUBBOCK, Texas, April 4, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- One of the hottest college football programs in America has chosen the best artificial turf in the world. Texas Tech has elected to install FieldTurf at Jones SBC Stadium in time for the 2006 football season. The announcement was jointly made today by Texas Tech Director of Athletics Gerald Myers and FieldTurf CEO John Gilman.
The new FieldTurf will replace Texas Tech's previous AstroTurf field. The Red Raiders' new state-of-the-art FieldTurf surface will debut at the team's 2006 home opener on September 2 against SMU. Last season, Head Coach Mike Leach's squad was one of the top teams in the country, posting a 9-2 record.
"Our players and coaches are really excited and look forward to playing on FieldTurf," said Myers. "We just installed FieldTurf on part of our practice field. The players have had the chance to run and work out on it on a limited basis. They are excited that we will be playing on FieldTurf in Jones Stadium this fall. FieldTurf is a leader in artificial turf. It is a product that is used in professional and college stadiums throughout the country. We are pleased we will have FieldTurf in place for the 2006 season."
"We're excited about getting a quality surface in FieldTurf," Coach Leach said. "It is one of the premier playing surfaces in the country. We have some of the best facilities in the country, and this only enhances what we already have."
"This is thrilling news for FieldTurf," said Gilman. "With the well-known explosiveness of Coach Leach's offense, we are certainly aware of the great importance of a high-quality playing surface. I know that the Tech athletic department staff spent a great deal of time on this decision, and we are very pleased that they have selected FieldTurf, the undisputed world leader in synthetic turf. And as Coach Leach might say, 'It ain't bragging if you can back it up!'"
Jones SBC Stadium opened in 1947 and has a current seating capacity of 52,882. The school played its first home game on artificial turf in September of 1970. The Red Raiders have not lost a home game since November of 2004.
Texas Tech is the fourth Big 12 school to install FieldTurf at its football stadium, joining Nebraska, Kansas State and Missouri. FieldTurf is currently in use in more than 25 NCAA Division 1-A football stadiums including Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, Boston College and Syracuse.
In addition to its growing popularity in the college ranks, FieldTurf has already established itself as the turf of choice in the National Football League. Twenty-two of the NFL's 32 teams currently use FieldTurf at their stadiums and/or their practice facilities. Also, three Major League Baseball teams use FieldTurf at their stadiums.
The NFL Players Association recently conducted a survey of all NFL players who were asked to rank the league's 32 stadium fields on a variety of factors, such as playability, safety, etc. The NFL players ranked FieldTurf fifth out of 32, and amazingly, NFL players rated FieldTurf ahead of 15 of the league's 19 natural grass fields.
FieldTurf is the result of years of research -- evident in the patented FieldTurf infill mix of silica sand and cryogenic rubber and patented layering process that deliver a system that emulates natural grass. Additional benefits are found in improved player safety, reduced maintenance costs and flexibility for conversion - allowing stadium managers to quickly change the field from one sport to another or to easily host a variety of sporting events, concerts and other special events directly on top of the FieldTurf surface.
Over the past few years, the quality and performance of FieldTurf's patented system has resulted in over 1800 installations in more than 40 countries. For more information on FieldTurf, please visit www.fieldturf.com or call (800) 724-2969.