A Whole New Red Zone: Eastern Washington Univ. Plans Red Field

Eastern Washington Planning To Install Red Playing Surface In Its Football Stadium

FCS school Eastern Washington Univ. (EWU) is planning to install an artificial red playing surface inside its football stadium for next season. Titans OT Michael Roos, an EWU alum, pledged $500,000 to the “Red Turf” project, but the school still needs additional funding before the synthetic turf can be installed at Woodward Field. Officials are hoping the project can be funded and installed by the start of the ’10 season (EWU). The red field "will be the first of its kind, not just in NCAA Division I football, but in the entire country." EWU AD Bill Chaves said, "There is no doubt that one of Boise State's claims to fame has been their blue turf, and like it or dislike it, it has certainly brought them a tremendous amount of notoriety. In a similar vein we have a tremendous opportunity at Eastern to do the same by differentiating ourselves with the red turf while providing a superior playing surface" (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 1/28). YAHOO SPORTS' Matt Hinton noted the NCAA "has no provision addressing the color of playing surfaces -- at least not yet -- because it hasn't had to consider the issue outside of the relatively obscure venues" at Boise State and Division II Univ. of New Haven, which installed blue turf last year. EWU could be "breaking ground on what promises to be a run on multi-colored turf by publicity-starved schools across the country" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/28).