Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium receives new playing surface

Work was completed this week on installation of a new artificial-turf playing surface in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The project to remove and replace the previous turf and make subsurface repairs began last month, amid a rare lull on the stadium’s calendar. The first major event on the new turf will be Atlanta United’s regular-season opener Feb. 27.

The new turf is the same product, called CORE, from the same brand, FieldTurf, as the previous.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium opened in 2017, and this marks the second time since then that the turf has been replaced. Stadium officials have said the turf likely will be replaced every two or three years, in part for aesthetic reasons because of wear from the field being repainted and rebranded for so many events.

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Roughly 6,000 gallons of paint were used on the previous surface, stadium officials told the Georgia World Congress Center Authority board last month.

The turf replacement was expected to cost approximately $500,000, according to figures provided to the GWCCA last year. Stadium capital improvements, such as turf replacement, are funded in part by a portion of the Atlanta hotel-motel tax dedicated to the facility and in part by AMB Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Falcons and Atlanta United.

The former field will be recycled and repurposed for various uses, AMBSE said.

Credit: AMBSE

Credit: AMBSE

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