Expand / Collapse search
☰

How crews keep Dallas Stadium's indoor grass at an elite level

By
FOX 4
FIFA World Cup
Published June 29, 2026 3:35 PM CDT
Published June 29, 2026 3:35 PM CDT
article

The Brief

    • Maintaining Dallas Stadium’s live grass pitch for the World Cup requires around-the-clock labor, grow lights, and mowing up to three times on match days.
    • Sprinklers are run right before kickoff and at halftime to ensure the surface is slick enough for fast-paced, elite-level passing.
    • Crews are preparing the pitch for Tuesday's Ivory Coast vs. Norway match; the temporary grass will be completely removed after the stadium hosts its final semifinal.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Maintaining peak-level indoor grass at Dallas Stadium requires special lighting, long hours of maintenance, and frequent mowing.

Keeping the Pitch in Peak Condition

What they're saying:

Now that Dallas Stadium is about halfway through hosting World Cup matches, FOX 4’s Steven Dial checked in with the pitch manager to see how everything is going.

FIFA Pitch Manager Ian Craig said he thinks it’s holding up really well. But, he said maintaining the live grass requires a lot of work.

"A lot of hard work, long hours. We've got to do a lot of repair work. We got to do a lot of preparation work beforehand. You know, the guys are in. Long after the stadium bowl's empty, we're cleaning up any debris, we're fixing any divots, we're bringing the lights back down," he said.

Crews cut the grass two or three times on match days. Craig said that’s because it grows so much.

"The players want it at a certain height to be able to do their thing to the highest level, so we've got to make sure that we can keep the grass at that level," he said.

And why do the sprinklers go off so soon before kickoff?

"So, what we want at the elite level, rather than the ball rolling across the surface, we want it really to slide across. We want to be able to play quick passes, to be able to play a quick football. So, in order to do that, we have to put the sprinklers on close to kickoff and at halftime," Craig said.

What's next:

Craig and his crew will once again turn the grow lights on when they leave the stadium for the night, then cut the grass several times before the Ivory Coast vs. Norway match on Tuesday.

Once the last semifinal match at Dallas Stadium is complete, the live grass will be removed. Craig expects to feel a mix of emotions that day.

"Probably a sense of relief, but I would expect a real sense of pride and probably a tinge of sadness as well because this has been a great project to be a part of. And I think we’ll all look back on it with a huge degree of pride. But yeah, I guess it’ll be mixed emotions on that day," he said.

The Source: FOX 4's Steven Dial gathered information for this story by meeting with FIFA pitch manager Ian Craig.

FIFA World CupSports