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Bettesworth Construction
field heating

How Lambeau Field Keeps Its Grass Green in Winter

Lambeau Field’s winter-ready grass relies on more than heat: radiant pipes help prevent frozen ground, while supplemental lighting, drainage and reinforced natural turf support the playing surface.

By Bettesworth Construction Team 3 min read
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Lambeau Field’s grass stays playable through cold late-season games because the Packers combine underground radiant heat, supplemental lighting, and a carefully built natural-turf surface. The heat helps keep the root zone from freezing; grow lights can support grass growth when autumn daylight fades. Neither system does the other’s job.

What Lambeau Field’s playing surface is made of

Lambeau has natural Kentucky bluegrass—not a fully artificial field—with synthetic fibers stitched through the turf and sand root zone to reinforce the surface. In the Packers’ account of the 2018 reconstruction, the team installed SIS Grass polyethylene fibers. They were stitched seven inches into the surface, spaced three-quarters of an inch apart, with just under an inch extending above ground. The fibers help stabilize the sand so it is less likely to shift under players’ traction, according to the Packers’ 2018 reconstruction report.

The Packers’ Lambeau Field fact sheet, surfaced as a 2024 document, describes a 10-inch sand root zone and Kentucky bluegrass with SISGrass polyethylene fibers. These are the team’s published specifications for the system described in that material, not a guarantee that no later changes have been made.

How underground heat helps in freezing weather

The Packers’ fact sheet says the heating system, updated in 2018, contains more than 43 miles of radiant pipe and can maintain the root zone at 55-plus degrees to keep the ground from freezing during late-season games. That warmth protects the playing surface from frozen ground; it is not, by itself, a way to provide the sunlight grass needs to grow.

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The modern arrangement took shape over several field renovations. In 2006, the Packers described plans to replace a clay-based field with a sand-based root zone over new drainage and heating systems. The team noted that sand aids drainage but is less stable, which is why it planned to embed synthetic fibers for firmer footing and less sod tear-out. That was a plan for the surface installed ahead of the 2007 season, not a description of today’s exact configuration. The fibers from that installation showed wear, prompting a replacement announced in 2017 and completed in 2018. The team’s accounts of those changes appear in its 2017 announcement and 2018 reconstruction report.

The heating method has an older history than the current pipes. An NFL.com retrospective says electric coils were installed for the 1967 season and replaced in 1997 by underground pipes carrying an antifreeze-containing solution. That history helps explain why the “frozen tundra” nickname can be misleading: the field has used active heating to protect its surface for decades.

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Why the field also needs supplemental light

Heating addresses freezing, but grass growth also depends on light. In autumn, shorter days and overcast stretches reduce natural light, and the grass can stop growing well before the football season ends. A 2010 Packers report described a trial of grow lights intended to extend the season. The structures covered roughly 30 percent of the field and were moved every one to two days as needed. Those details describe that trial, not verified current equipment or a present-day operating schedule.

During the trial, the Packers reported that the crew collected twice as many clippings from lit areas as from unlit areas after mowing. That was an early observation from one trial, not a controlled study or a general performance guarantee for grow-light systems. The report quotes fields manager Allen Johnson describing the lights as “just one more tool” the team could try. Read the dated account in the Packers’ 2010 grow-light report.

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How drainage and irrigation support the turf

A playable field needs more than warmth and light. The Packers’ 2018 reconstruction report describes more than 3,500 tons of sand placed over heating and irrigation systems, above a laser-graded pea-gravel layer. The sand root zone supports drainage, while the gravel and field construction help move water through the surface. The project also doubled the number of irrigation zones, allowing staff to water selected areas individually, and changed the root-zone depth to bring heating pipes closer to the surface. After replanting sod in spring, the crew stitched more than 2,500 miles of synthetic fiber into the Kentucky bluegrass.

The field’s systems work toward different needs: radiant heat helps prevent the ground from freezing, supplemental light can support growth during low-light periods, and drainage, irrigation, and stitched fibers help maintain a stable natural-grass playing surface. The published material does not establish Lambeau’s current grow-light hardware, operating hours, heating set points, or daily winter procedures.

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