The grass is greener at Empower Field.
Or it’s at least new. Again.
The Broncos’ turf and facilities team put down fresh sod between the end of the stadium’s summer concert series and Saturday nightap preseason opener against Arizona.
They did it in record time, according to director of turf and grounds Chris Hathaway.
After The Lumineers performed at the stadium on Aug. 2, Hathaway and his team got to work. They put down 462 rolls of Kentucky Bluegrass turf grown at Green Valley Turf in Platteview over the course of three days — a total of 55 hours end to end — replacing the entire grass surface in the process.
The grass has had about 10 days between when it was installed and Saturday night’s return to football action.
“In the fastest installation to date, it takes an incredible amount of teamwork to complete a project of this size,” Hathaway said. “Our facilities team works quickly to transition from hosting concerts to football games, creating a safe, playable surface for everyone on gameday.”
It may be a big undertaking, but Hathaway’s team has experience on quick turnarounds. The Broncos have replaced the grass playing surface at Empower Field in the middle of each season since the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group bought the team in August 2022.
The team wouldn’t confirm the price tag on the replacement but it cost an estimated $250,000 for a slightly smaller project in 2023 and this year’s version is expected to check in between $300,000 and $400,000.
