SubAir

When the new 11,000+ seat Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, KY opens in 2020, it will have two new occupants: The Louisville City Football Club of the USL Championship soccer league and a state-of-the-art SubAir Sport System. Already in wide use on professional and Olympic sports fields around the world, the SubAir Sport System is a turf management tool that combines engineering and technology in order to create, monitor, and control the entire subsurface of the playing field while providing the best growing environment for natural turf. This turf management tool at Lynn Family Stadium — custom designed and programmed for the specific growing environment — will incorporate SubAir’s latest technologies, including wireless in-ground sensors that relay subsoil conditions; a secure dedicated communications network; and proprietary computer programs to collect, relay, and interpret field-conditions data. Through computers, digital notebooks, and smartphones, the turf management team can review all data and equipment to activate aeration and moisture-control operations and proactively respond to changing field conditions. “It’s an absolute game changer. Right now our sensors are showing field temperatures in the low 40s even with air temperatures in the low teens. I honestly didn’t think that was possible and am blown away by the consistency,” said Tom Nielson, head groundskeeper at Lynn Family Stadium. “With a SubAir System, the root density will be increased enabling the pitch to receive more nutrients, handle intense stresses, and recover much more quickly. The SubAir System is amazing.” The custom designed 3,000-pound main SubAir System consists ...