The Steelers will be replacing the field at Acrisure Stadium with a new blend of grass this offseason
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be replacing the playing surface at Acrisure Stadium with a new blend of grass aimed at meeting new NFL safety standards.
Late last year, the NFL announced mandates for all playing surfaces to meet new standards by 2028 to help enhance player safety.
The turf at the home of the Steelers on Pittsburgh's North Shore is often swapped out several times per season, but this offseason, when the field is replaced, the playing surface will feature a blend of grass that is new to Acrisure Stadium.
KDKA Steelers Insider and Post-Gazette writer Gerry Dulac reported Thursday that the new surface is expected to be what is known as Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass, a turf that is often used for golf courses and is tolerant in cold weather climates.
"It's a different blend of what we have been using," Steelers president Art Rooney II told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "They've been using it in other places and it's been working."
That new blend of grass is already being used at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and at Soldier Field in Chicago and is expected to help the Steelers and Acrisure Stadium get up to par with the new NFL standards.
The playing surface at Acrisure Stadium has been a topic of discussion over the years, including last season when the turf wasn't in the best of shape during a game, causing Steelers kicker Chris Boswell to lose his footing during a field goal attempt.
At the time, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said the condition of the playing surface became "borderline unplayable."
Rooney added that the Steelers have no plans to go from using natural grass to an artificial playing surface and the only way the team would consider making that change would be if sod farms can't produce the grass that is needed.
"We're kind of at their mercy," Rooney said. "If something happened with the sod farms not producing enough of the good grass, we would have to consider a change."
Seat replacement also underway at Acrisure Stadium
Turf replacement isn't the only improvement project going on at the home of the Steelers, however, as thousands of seats at Acrisure Stadium are in the process of being replaced.
An aerial view from the KDKA Drone Team showed a number of seats have already been removed from the 500 level on the western side of the stadium and another part of the seating area covered with a tarp.
Last fall, the Sports and Exhibition Authority approved a first phase of seat replacements at the home of the Steelers that will include 22,000 seats being replaced over a two-year period.
Multiple issues with seats had been reported including broken bolts and rusting base plates.
Nearly all of the stadium seats will be replaced by 2028 for a total of cost of nearly $18 million.