How Much Does it Cost to Build a Football Field?
Before building a football field, we often consider the cost, and hope to build it at the most affordable price. In fact, the cost of building a football field with artificial turf can range from $500,000 to $2,000,000, depending on the circumstances, such as
- Football field size
- Turf and surfacing
- Level of competition
- Number of light poles
- Brightness requirement
- Additional facility
The cost of building a football field for international matches can range from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000, while the cost of building a collegiate training football field is approximately $600,000 to $900,000. In some cases, the cost will reach $15 million.
| Cost to build a football field | Natural grass field | Synthetic turf |
| Overall construction expenses | $500,000 to $800,000 | $650,000 to $1,000,000 |
| Maintenance expenses | $10,000 to $20,000 per month | $5,000 to $8,000 per month |
| Life span of grass or turf | 2 to 3 years | 8 to 10 years |
As we can see, the construction cost of synthetic football field may be higher than natural grass. However, if we use synthetic turf, the subsequent maintenance cost will be much lower. It is true that synthetic grass is more durable compared to natural grass. This is especially important for this kind of sport.
Football field building cost overview
How much does it cost to build a football field?
The overall cost of building a recreational or training football field is approx. $500,000 to $1,200,000. It would be very difficult to get the exact amount because the final expenses depend on the requirement. The cost will be higher if we need to build a professional football field or stadium.
How much does it cost to turf a football field?
Surfacing is one of the major costs. In general, if we are using the artificial turf, the price would be around $4 per sq. feet, depending on the brand, infill, shock pad, etc. Therefore, the football field turfing cost will be approximately $4 x 75,000 sq. ft = $300,000. We can see that the cost of turf already accounts for a large part of the building cost of football field.
How much would it cost to build a soccer field with natural grass?
If you prefer natural grass on football field, the cost will be a little lower – the price of native soil is around $0.5 to $2 per sq. feet. The sand cap will contribute to the additional cost of around $1 to $2 per sq. feet.
Much much does it cost to resurfacing the football field turf?
If your football field already has artificial turf but is worn out, we can resurface the field. Since resurfacing only involves removing the old and installing new turf, the cost of construction and labor is much lower. The cost of replacing a football field turf is approx. $100,000 to $200,000. If we were to replace the drainage system as well, the total construction cost would increase by $8,000 to $20,000, depending on the size and complexity of the course.
Factors affecting the building cost of a football field
Level of competition (type of football fields or stadiums)
World-class football stadium building cost
Believe or not, the cost to build a world-class football stadium is up to billions of dollars. When building a stadium for Premier League or Olympic Games, we have to fulfill many requirements such as seat capacity and lighting. SoFi stadium is one of the most expensive stadiums in the world and it cost approx. 5.5 billion dollars to build. Let’s take a look at some examples of the most expensive stadium.
| Name of football stadium | Cost to build | Year |
| SoFi Stadium (CA, US) | $5.5 billion | 2020 |
| Allegiant Stadium (NV, US) | $1.9 billion | 2020 |
| MetLife Stadium (NJ, US) | $1.7 billion | 2010 |
| Yankee Stadium (NY, US) | $1.5 billion | 2009 |
| Wembley Stadium (London, UK) | $1.5 billion | 2007 |
| Mercedes-Benz Stadium (GA, US) | $1.5 billion | 2017 |
| AT & T Stadium (TX, US) | $1.3 billion | 2009 |
| Singapore National Stadium (Kallang, Singapore) | $1.3 billion | 2014 |
| Levi’s Stadium (CA, US) | $1.3 billion | 2014 |
| Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (London, UK) | $1.2 billion | 2019 |
| Optus Stadium (Perth Australia) | $1.2 billion | 2017 |
| U.S. Bank Stadium (MN, US) | $1.1 billion | 2016 |
| Krestovsky Stadium (Petersburg, Russia) | $1.1 billion | 2017 |
| London Stadium (London, UK) | $990 million | 2012 |
| Nissan Stadium | $680 million | 1997 |
We can see that many soccer and football stadiums cost millions, if not billions, of dollars to build.
SoFi stadium is the most expensive stadium in the world. It is designed for holding many popular sports events such as Super Bowl in 2022, The College Football Championship Game in 2023, as well as the Olympic Games in 2028. Most importantly, SoFi stadium can accommodate over 70,000 football fans. This is certainly an amazing stadium in California.
A good stadium lighting system is vital for the international, world-class football stadium because it provides sufficient brightness for the audiences and spectators. For this type of football or soccer field, we typically need 1500 to 2000 lux of lighting throughout the football field. This is equivalent to 200 to 400 pieces of high power LED lights. LedsMaster manufactures and suppliers the lighting equipment used in all kinds of football field. If you have any questions about building a football field, please feel free to consult our engineers.
High school football field
How much does it cost to build a high school football field? Certainly, the cost of a high school football stadium is much cheaper than a world-class stadium – the fees range from $600,000 to $900,000. Due to the high frequency of use of college football fields, it is important that we choose a durable turf. Artificial turf is a better choice.
Cost to build Alamo Stadium
Alamo stadium is a typical high school stadium in US, and it costs about $500,000 to build. The seat capacity is approx. 23,000.
Cost to build Cathy Parker Field
Cathy Parker Field, similarly, cost around $500,000 to build. The fees include the turf, surfacing, fencing, stadium seat, lighting and other necessary facility
In fact, for the construction of high school and community football stadium, the building cost ranges from $500,000 to millions of dollars because they have different standards. If the field requires brighter lights, the overall construction cost will be higher. The difference in stadium lighting costs can be as much as 50% to 80%. Therefore, it is advisable to consult lighting engineering when designing lighting for football fields. The lighting design strategies includes lux value, lighting uniformity, glare-free, flicker-free and more. If you would like to receive free lighting advice, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line.
Quality of synthetic turf
If you are on a tight budget to build a football field, we need to choose a synthetic turf supplier carefully. The price of the synthetic pitch can range from $3 to $8 per sq. feet. If you are looking for top quality artificial turf, you may have to pay as much as $10 to $15 per square foot.
Nowadays many courses also use artificial turf. Unlike natural grass, artificial turf does not require watering, sunlight, mowing and extensive daily maintenance, thus greatly reducing maintenance costs and time.
In addition, artificial turf is more resistant to wear and tear, so it has a longer lifespan. We don’t have to worry about bad weather damaging the natural, fragile grass.
Some people may worry that football players will be more prone to injury if they play on artificial turf. But is that the case? Studies, both large and small, have shown that there is no significant difference in injury rates between artificial turf and natural grass. Instead, artificial turf is more likely to meet the standards of different soccer games.
Football field size
The size of a football field affects the cost of construction. In addition to the surface turf, football fields require a drainage system and infill layer. In addition to the standard fields, we sometimes have to build smaller training fields. Depending on the size of the football ball, the cost of construction will vary.
Maintenance cost of football field
Some people may also be concerned about the high maintenance costs of a football field once it is built. In reality, maintenance costs should be within your budget. Maintenance costs can be divided into three main components, namely
- Material (the turf, lighting, etc)
- Labor
- Necessary equipment
Let’s take a look at the summary of football field maintenance cost
| Maintenance in football field | Expenses |
| Infill | $3,000 to $6,000 |
| Turf replacement | $5,000 to $15,000 (depending on the size) |
| Lighting | $0 for LED lights $3,000 to $5,000 for metal halide or halogen lights. |
| Drainage | $2,000 to $4,000 |
| Facility (seat, fence, scoreboard, etc) | $2,000 to $3,000 |
With this in mind, we should keep enough budget for the above-mentioned maintenance of the soccer field. After the construction of the football field, this is not the end of the story. In fact, there is still a lot of expense in maintenance.
Cost of football stadium lighting
Lighting is an important facility when it comes to football field construction, because without proper lighting, we cannot hold games at night. Lighting cost will vary depending on the level of competition.
| Type of football field | Lighting cost |
| Recreational football field | $10,000 to $30,000 |
| High school, or professional football stadium | $25,000 to $60,000 |
| World-class football stadium | $200,000 to $800,000 |
Recreational football stadiums are less expensive to light because we only need about 200 to 300 lux, whereas in world-class stadiums we need 1000 to 1500 lux. The main reason for the increase in cost is that professional football stadiums have more lights. For recreational or training football fields, we need about 15 to 25 LED lights. For high school or college stadiums, we need about 20 to 40. If we were to install lights in a world-class stadium, that number would go up to 150 to 250 lights.
If you would like free advice on lighting design and football field construction, please feel free to contact us.