HOUSTON, April 20, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Rice Stadium, one of America's great college football venues, has selected FieldTurf for installation at the 57-year-old facility. The announcement was jointly made by Rice Athletics Director Bobby May and FieldTurf CEO John Gilman. The new FieldTurf will debut on September 2 when Rice hosts its cross-town rivals, the Houston Cougars.
Rice Stadium is the last Division I football facility that still has Astroturf. Texas Tech, one of the other three universities that still had Astroturf, announced it plans to install FieldTurf on April 4.
"FieldTurf has established itself as the product of choice for football stadia across the country," said Rice Head Football Coach Todd Graham. "Our players are excited about competing on this surface for years to come."
"For those who are fortunate enough to have had the great experience of attending a game at Rice Stadium, then you know how much fun that can be," said Gilman. "Rice Stadium truly is one of the venerable college football facilities in the United States. And we certainly feel that the addition of FieldTurf is going to make things even better for Rice athletes, coaches and fans."
Rice Stadium has a capacity of 70,000 despite a student body that numbers around 4500. While serving as the home of the Owls, the facility is perhaps best known for serving as the host of Super Bowl VIII. On January 13, 1974, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 24-7. The stadium has also hosted the NFL's Houston Oilers and college football's Bluebonnet Bowl.
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 1,800 installations in more than 40 countries. For more information on FieldTurf, please visit www.fieldturf.com or call (800) 724-2969.