MIAMI, Feb. 2, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) released their bi-annual ranking of NFL stadium fields during a press conference at the Super Bowl Media Center in Miami yesterday. Once again, the results tabbed FieldTurf as the runaway leader among all artificial turf brands. In addition, FieldTurf compared extremely favorably to the league's natural grass surfaces. A total of 1511 active NFL players from all 32 teams completed survey forms.
Of the 31 NFL stadium fields rated by the players, FieldTurf's Qwest Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks, was ranked 2nd, behind only the natural grass at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. This marked the third consecutive survey over the past six years that Seattle has rated in the top five. This year was the highest ranking ever for the FieldTurf turf system. Qwest Field ranked ahead of 18 of the NFL's 19 grass surfaces.
In addition to the #2 position of the FieldTurf at Qwest Field, FieldTurf surfaces scored high at other stadiums as well -- with Detroit's Ford Field scoring 4th, Atlanta's Georgia Dome 7th, Indianapolis' RCA Dome 9th and the Rams' Edward Jones Dome 11th. The Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium scored 14th while Giants Stadium, home of the NY Giants and Jets, was 16th and the Vikings' Metrodome was 24th.
Thirty-one NFL stadium fields were ranked in the NFLPA survey as the New York Giants and New York Jets both share Giants Stadium as their home field. The survey was taken before the New England Patriots replaced their grass field with FieldTurf during the 2006 season.
Overall, FieldTurf placed four fields in the NFL's top ten. That feat has never previously been accomplished by any brand in the annals of artificial turf. But more important was the clear directions shown as more players had time to experience all of the different surfaces at NFC and AFC stadiums from coast to coast. In addition, FieldTurf boasted seven of the top eight artificial turf fields cited in the NFLPA survey.
FieldTurf had also led the "field" in the last NFLPA rankings released in 2004. But as more players have had the opportunity to play on FieldTurf during the past two seasons, their preference was noted clearly by today's results.
Comparing players' preference during this recent two-year period, all but two of the sixteen natural grass fields dropped in the ranking, scoring lower among the players' preferences. The average loss per natural grass fields was 6.9 positions.
Other artificial turf fields scored mixed results, with Astroplay losing 1 position on its field at the Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium and RealGrass losing 3 positions at the Cowboys' Texas Stadium. Sportexe's 2 fields at the Ravens' M&T Bank Stadium and the Saints' Superdome overall gained an average of 4 positions.
But FieldTurf's preference among NFL players was overwhelming. During this same period, every single one of FieldTurf's 8 fields gained positions over their rankings from two years ago. The average increase in ranking per field was 8 positions.
"I think this says it all," said FieldTurf CEO John Gilman. As more players have a chance to feel the difference when they plant, cut or run on FieldTurf's engineered system, our ratings keep going up. We're proud of every one of the more than 1900 fields we've put in the ground. But there's nothing like hearing it from the NFL football players themselves. It's the ultimate compliment. I can't express how much it means to all of us at FieldTurf Tarkett."
FieldTurf was engineered to replicate the best things about natural grass, while also delivering a surface that performs consistently in all weather conditions and provides a high performance and safe surface -- all with just a fraction of the maintenance required by natural grass fields.
Asked about the Sportexe field at M&T Bank Stadium which placed in the top five (Sportexe's other field placed 26th) Gilman responded by adding, "M&T placed well but it was really no surprise at all. Inspection confirmed the installers pretty much ignored the patents on our unique infill system, which is why we instituted legal action. Frankly, I am disappointed that others in the artificial turf industry have simply done nothing to improve their engineering and continue to operate with little or no testing whatsoever."
Over the past few years, the quality and performance of FieldTurf's patented system has resulted in over 1900 installations in more than 45 countries and has made it the first choice for top stadiums around the world.
FieldTurf is the leading brand of FieldTurf Tarkett, part of the US$2+ billion Tarkett Group. FieldTurf Tarkett is the most financially sound company in the sports surfacing industry and brings unprecedented financial, technical and manufacturing resources to clients around the globe.
For more information on FieldTurf Tarkett, the one-stop resource for all high quality sports surfacing products, please visit www.fieldturftarkett.com or call (800) 724-2969.
2006 NFL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION PLAYING SURFACE RANKINGS 1 Tampa Bay 2 Seattle (FieldTurf) 3 Carolina 4 Detroit (FieldTurf) 5 Baltimore (Sportexe) 6 Arizona 7 Atlanta (FieldTurf) 8 Jacksonville 9 Indianapolis (FieldTurf) 10 San Diego 11 St. Louis (FieldTurf) 12 Denver 13 Washington 14 Cincinnati (FieldTurf) 15 Houston 16 New York Giants/Jets (FieldTurf) 17 San Francisco 18 Green Bay 19 New Orleans (Sportexe) 20 Miami 21 Tennessee 22 Dallas (RealGrass) 23 Philadelphia 24 Minnesota (FieldTurf) 25 Buffalo (Astroplay) 26 Kansas City 27 Chicago 28 Cleveland 29 Pittsburgh 30 New England (Before FieldTurf) 31 Oakland Raiders