FC Dallas relies on LATITUDE® BERMUDAGRASS to maintain a top-tier playing surface at Toyota Stadium. Built in 2005 in Frisco, Texas, the stadium now depends on this grass to handle a packed event schedule. Allen Reed, Director of Grounds, was part of the team from the very beginning, helping lay the original turf as an assistant.
Toyota Stadium hosts up to 75-100 events each year, including 65-70 soccer matches annually, 22 football games and several concerts. “One thing we love is the recovery. With us hosting as many events as we do, recovery is very key,” shared Reed. Due to the high volume of events, the field is resodded every year, which also allows them to trial new practices and materials.
In 2015, FC Dallas began testing Latitude 36®, transitioning the entire field the following year after seeing strong performance. Thomas Turfgrass, a trusted supplier for major stadiums like LSU’s Tiger Stadium, provided the grass for the current field. A crew of four employees tends the field daily, with additional staff on game days. Reed noted that Latitude 36® has been resilient. “We do very little weed control and don’t use many chemicals and haven’t seen any disease in the Latitude 36.”
Get an insider's look at how FC Dallas keeps their field in peak condition season after season, ensuring players can perform at their best in this video:
“With the events we do, we do a lot of maintenance—grooming, verticutting—and the more we can beat it up, the better it responds with the Latitude in here,” Reed added. His team takes an aggressive approach, aiming for a “cleat-in, cleat-out” surface similar to baseball infield management to minimize kick-ups and keep the surface smooth.
Looking ahead, Reed is considering converting the training fields to Latitude 36®. “It could be the grass, or it could be how we're managing, fertilizing and the inputs we're putting on it, but it's pretty simple. Latitude 36 is definitely high on a lot of guys' lists. A lot of them are using it in their facilities and stadiums, so yeah, it's definitely one of the well-known grasses in sports.”
When Adam Portenier left FC Dallas in 2019 to become Groundskeeper for Nashville Soccer Club, he brought his preference for Latitude 36® to GEODIS Park, their new stadium in Tennessee. Read about his decision and learn about how Latitude 36 continues to be a grass of choice for professional soccer stadiums across the country.
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