Battlehawks roll out the new turf and up the brightness

Oct 25, 2024

ST. LOUIS – More visible than ever, the Battlehawks were proud to show off the new LED lighting and brand new turf field in the Dome at America’s Center.

Battlehawks Head Coach Anthony Becht and tight end Jake Sutherland walked on the field for the first time.

“This is really nice,” said Becht. “Great addition to this dome. New lights, new turf, exciting times to be a Battlehawk.” Both Becht and Sutherland gave the turf a couple small hops testing its squishiness.

“I think it feels like a tempurpedic pillow,” said Sutherland. “It feels really good, it’s nice to see St. Louis putting in some money and effort into making our facilities a little better.”

The old turf’s color was inconsistent throughout the field but otherwise was in reasonable shape for its age. Coach says from a safety standards standpoint it was fine.

“That turf was actually solid, just aesthetically wasn’t very pleasing to the eyes and fans assumed it wasn’t even turf,” said Becht. “It was 12 years old and it was time to upgrade, get something that has a little more of the nuances of the new stadium turfs.”

Sutherland enjoyed the softness of the field. “It’s defintely a lot softer and squishier, it brings some brightness to the field as well. So, from an aesthetic standpoint it looks really good. It feels new for sure,” said Sutherland.

The Dome has also been revamped with new LED lighting that brightens the space like never before.

“The LED lighting, there’s not a lot of stadiums that have that in general, they may be going to that but to be in the forefront of that as well is going to be great for our fans,” said Becht. “Visually, it looks like it’s a lot brighter, it was always little bit of a dimmer feel, now they can turn them on turn them off make them higher or lower, so all that stuff is really cool.”

While they strolled around the new turf, Becht looked back to the lights as if he was catching an over the shoulder pass.

“I was just seeing how they shine if you’re tracking a football. The side ones aren’t going to be an issue. You look at these ones in the corners, and they look like they can all be dimmed at a certain level, so if you’re tracking and your eyes hit it real quick. You can have that problem with normal lighting as well. The fact that you they can be adjusted, you can actually amplify the sides and then those ones you can make them what you want. That’s the nice flexibility about it.”

Much like the Rams before, the Dome is known as the home of the Battlehawks but there are many more events there than there are Battlehawks home games.

“Then when you have other events in here you just jack them up and you have perfect lighting. They’re going to do what we need to do to make it ideal for playing situations but right now it looks great. – It definitely stands out as now a top tier place to play a football game and that only helps, not just us, but colleges and other teams that want come through here and potentially have a football game here. Coaches want that, and this raises the standard for that opportunity.”

For those attending games, Becht believes the lighting will not only brighten the experience for fans.

“The vibrance of the light in general is going to be a lot better for the fans. When you’re in the suites and you get a little farther up, I just think the more you have that vibrance on the field with the lighting you’re just going to see things a little bit better and differently.”

He’s hoping that different vantage points may help the team on the field as fans cheer and yell.

“We all want our fans to cheer and do so at the right times… so when they see things, especially if it helps us, an almost fumble or something happened that we may have to challenge – instead of me looking at the replay I can just listen to the fans because they’re going to have a great visual.”

He said St. Louis, already leads the UFL in venue experience and the additions simply amplifies it.

“It was already the best place, and that starts with our fans of course.”

For those that want to see the field much sooner than March 28, 2025, the Bands of America annual Marching Band tournament is this weekend.