Installing a football field at a sports arena, park, school, or in your backyard requires researching the best football turf options, including factors such as cost of installation, the level of maintenance required, safety, longevity, and attractiveness.

Opting for artificial grass ensures that your field will always look green and lush, will save thousands of dollars in water each year, and will even help reduce exposure to chemicals, since fake grass does not require fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides. It also provides a level playing field with fewer tripping hazards and requires minimal maintenance over the years.

Benefits of Installing Synthetic Football Turf

Artificial football turf offers several benefits over natural grass fields. Most importantly, it provides a level, even playing surface with fewer tripping hazards. This provides a safer field on which athletes or your friends and family can play.

Additionally, you will benefit from a significant reduction in the time and money it takes to maintain it. Whereas natural grass requires regular mowing, edging, weeding, fertilizing, and aerating, you will not have to do any of these tasks with synthetic turf. You will also save a significant amount of water, since each square meter of natural grass requires about 2,200 gallons of water per year to keep it healthy and looking green and lush. This can save you thousands of dollars every year and help you recompense the initial investment it took to install your field.

Plus, you will save money on fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides, since these are required with natural grass but are not necessary when caring for an artificial grass field or lawn. This also means reduced exposure to chemicals for your players and spectators.

If you are concerned about the look of your field, you will appreciate never having to worry about your synthetic turf field getting brown spots from excessive heat, constant traffic, or dogs using the field as their restroom. Additionally, unlike natural grass that can take days to dry out enough for use after rain, artificial grass has great drainage and no mud, so games can resume immediately. This also means that there is no mud and no blades of wet grass to track into your house after the game.

Aside from saving time on maintenance, you will also save time on painting lines and numbers on your football turf. With natural grass, you would need to repaint the markings on your field regularly, particularly after you mow. But with artificial grass, this is not necessary.

How Often Is Football Turf Replaced?

The lifespan of synthetic turf depends on the quality of the product, the quality of the installation, whether or not it is maintained regularly, and how frequently it is used. Residential lawns are expected to last between 10 and 20 years, but some homeowners will see an even longer lifespan if they opt for a high-quality product that is professionally installed.

Football turf on professional sports fields or fields at schools and parks that are used often are typically replaced every five to 10 years.

Backyard Football Turf Installation Tips

Most folks do not have enough space for a regulation-size football field in their backyard. But even if you do not have a spare 120 yards by 53 yards on your property, you can still install a smaller field for practice and friendly pick-up games. To accomplish this, determine how much space you have, and then scale down the field to fit. For example, you might be able to fit a field that is 60 yards by 27 yards or 30 yards by 14 yards.

When using artificial football turf, you do not have to worry about repainting your lines, numbers, or any special additions as often as you would with natural grass that needs to be regularly mowed. This gives you the opportunity to personalize your field by painting the logo of your favorite team or a custom logo for your family in the end zones.

If you are planning on using your football field for soccer as well, look for combination setups that have both goals and goalposts to make your sports field more versatile.

Even backyard football games can get intense, so be sure to designate an area for spectators that is well out of the way to help keep both the players and the audience safe.

Perhaps most importantly, consider having your football field professionally installed. With you, your friends, and your kids running, jumping, and tackling, it is important to have a level, even playing field without mounds or divots. Also, proper installation is key to getting the most out of your investment.