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Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - Licence To Stand

DeleHarry said:
For just a couple of NFL games a year why not simply play them on the grass pitch like they do at Wembley?

It's like the football team is being compromised for the sake of the NFL. The NFL surface is whole, permanent and safe whilst the football pitch is cut into 3 pieces, and on trays and rollers to help move it in and out of the ground.:confused:
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Indeed, if it was just for a couple of NFL games a year, why not.

Have you considered that the logical explanation is that the scheme doesn't depend on a couple of NFL games?
 
StephenH said:
My main concern is the bounce of the ball on such a thin soil container.
Other than that, proof of the pudding............
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Thin? It will be about a metre deep, way deeper than the standard trays they use at other pitches, carried in by tractors / forklifts. It will be very solid, hundreds and hundreds of tons of solid.
 
billyiddo said:
I'm sure it'll be fine but I can't help but be sceptical of the 'joins' where the three sections align - can't see how it will be unnoticeable
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The sides will push against each other, they won't just be lying vaguely near each other with a gap in the middle, it will be tight.
 
DeleHarry said:
For just a couple of NFL games a year why not simply play them on the grass pitch like they do at Wembley?

It's like the football team is being compromised for the sake of the NFL. The NFL surface is whole, permanent and safe whilst the football pitch is cut into 3 pieces, and on trays and rollers to help move it in and out of the ground.:confused:
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I believe with the amount of coaches etc at the edge of an NFL pitch that the best viewing angle is a bit higher, and that at stadiums like wembley the first few rows are left empty to try and give a better experience.

This means that watching NFL is ingrained in the stadium and if there's any British-based NFL games then our new stadium is the premium choice.

This also means if there is ever a London-based franchise our new stadium and training ground is the premium choice.

This means $$$$$

Also, other events can be hosted on the artificial surface.
 
Nicely summarized.

In order to make the full seating capacity work most efficiently - right down to the first row of seats in PL football configuration - the NFL field has to be several feet lower than the soccer pitch. The sidelines at NFL games are packed with all sorts of people - players, coaches, media members, game officials - that it's impossible to properly see play unfold from seats that aren't at least six feet above the playing surface. The NFL players will also cause profound damage to a soccer pitch with their cleats and massively bulky bodies.

The design for the pitch at MegaLane ensures that all seats in the lower bowl can be used for any event presented there while retaining optimal sightlines and ensuring top quality playing surfaces. It's an outstanding design and one I'm sure we'll see copied in years to come.

This from someone who earns a decent amount of his livelihood working in modern sports stadiums, mostly in US and Canada, but I've worked in many more around the world, including the Bernabeu, Camp Nou, Azteca and Hampden.

There's a lot of people in the UK media - journos and commenters - and plenty more in Hoi Polloi Central who love to cast aspersions or mockery on what's proposed for MegaLane. Let me say this about that:

No one with the business savvy of a top sports executive like Daniel Levy would go to the trouble or expense of designing for and building in the facilities and architectural features that MegaLane has to accommodate the NFL unless there were assurances that these facilities would be given more than occasional use.

There will be a NFL franchise playing out of MegaLane as soon as the NFL is satisfied that everything it needs is ready and working. Daniel Levy will have it ready and working from the get-go.
 
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Well, I'm looking forward to a demo/opening event, the day starting with thingies on the NFL pitch, followed by a game on the pitch, and back to the NFL for a demo explaining NFL rules.


All interspersed with beer & nibbles (or nipples if cold).

Any info on timings for a slick surface switch?. If not here, then elsewhere .... stadium expert, anyone?
 
Whiffler said:
Well, I'm looking forward to a demo/opening event, the day starting with thingies on the NFL pitch, followed by a game on the pitch, and back to the NFL for a demo explaining NFL rules.


All interspersed with beer & nibbles (or nipples if cold).

Any info on timings for a slick surface switch?. If not here, then elsewhere .... stadium expert, anyone?
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25mins is the claim. Tantric.
 
Bullet said:
Thin? It will be about a metre deep, way deeper than the standard trays they use at other pitches, carried in by tractors / forklifts. It will be very solid, hundreds and hundreds of tons of solid.
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Doh!
I thought it look about 3 to 4 inches :oops:
 
scaramanga said:
Maybe someone will run around on the artificial pitch underneath, sliding on it in shorts.

It's been over 15 years since I slid on an artificial pitch but I do remember it generates the highest temperatures known to man.
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Just this Wednesday I fell on my face on the proper old sandy astroturf. Burnt my gums, upper lip and nose, I look pretty.
 
billyiddo said:
I'm sure it'll be fine but I can't help but be sceptical of the 'joins' where the three sections align - can't see how it will be unnoticeable
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At WHL there were umpteen sprinklers on the pitch which were in small grass covered containers which opened and shut on a regular basis. I'm not aware of any damage to the pitch or players from these devices other than the occasional soaking for people when the sprinklers were switched on at the wrong time.
 

Someone on SSC found a slightly longer version (a bit more footage from the training ground experiment) of the vid in high resolution.
 
Whiffler said:
Never one of our Poets Laureate, dear heart. Gazza, at least, shows promise
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Too busy trying to get
scaramanga said:
Maybe someone will run around on the artificial pitch underneath, sliding on it in shorts.

It's been over 15 years since I slid on an artificial pitch but I do remember it generates the highest temperatures known to man.
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Over 40 years ago I burnt a big patch of skin off my thigh doing a sliding tackle on the astronomy turf at the Caledonian Road pitch, had to have patches on leg for weeks.
 
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