Go4Broke
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I believe the Vikings will pay the costs to install a field they can paint their logos on for two years and then pay the cost to replace it with a field designed to the Gopher's specifications after they move into their new stadium. It shouldn't cost them more than $300,000 to do it. Since they probably will get a multi-field discount from the turf company their cost for replacing it the second time might be significantly less than $300,000.
The following article details what it cost the Buffalo Bills to replace (not install) their old field.
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New player in artificial turf business could spark price war
Posted by Mike Florio on May 8, 2011
While surveying the Internet for possible stories to share, I tripped across an item in the Buffalo News regarding the new artificial surface to be installed at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.
Hooked by the fact that the company that won the contract is owned by a lifelong Bills fans, I was shocked by the price of the job: $178,000. Though A-Turf may simply be hoping to crack the NFL market, the price falls far short of similar projects. For example, the Metrodome spent $495,000 last year on a new artificial surface. In St. Louis, the Edward Jones Dome plunked down $2.5 million for a system that allows the turf to be moved when the facility isn’t being used for football, an alternative to the prior approach that cost $300,000 per year.
According to its website, FieldTurf costs well over $700,000 to install.
If A-Turf establishes any traction (pun not intended but nevertheless acknowledged), its competitors’ prices could be dropping quickly.
Assuming that A-Turf can charge a rate that low and still make a profit.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...tificial-turf-business-could-spark-price-war/
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Following is A-Turf's response to Florio's article:
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A-Turf, Inc. is very excited about the upcoming turf project for the Buffalo Bills and Erie County taxpayers at Ralph Wilson Stadium. We’ve followed some of the chatter and want to alleviate any concerns on the part of the passionate football fans and taxpayers in general.
In the field building business, it’s rare to have the opportunity to showcase your system at an NFL stadium venue. The marketing value and credibility is immeasurable. This truly is a win-win situation, the Bills get a premier system and we get the honor of installing it.
Given that this was a public bid led by Erie County, the price is a matter of public record. Over the years many NFL stadium fields have been given away by other field builders, at reduced prices or in some cases at no cost at all. In many of these cases, the Club makes the decision, meaning it’s not a public bid process and therefore the cost of such fields is not released. Why would a field builder do this? Again, because the exposure is tremendous and the difference between market price and paid price is treated as a multi-year marketing investment.
Given the scope of work at Ralph Wilson Stadium, market price would have been in the low $300,000’s, not the $700,000 – $1,000,000 mentioned in above comments. The three quarters of a million dollars would be more typical of converting a natural grass field to synthetic, which includes considerable site work cost.
The Ralph Wilson Stadium project is much simpler – remove the old and replace it with the new. As a matter of public record, the second low bid was $269,100.
Jim Dobmeier
A-Turf, Inc.
President & Founder
