May 19, 2014

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For a limited time this week the University of Notre Dame athletics department is offering fans the opportunity to purchase two-foot-by-five-foot sections of the actual natural grass from historic Notre Dame Stadium.

Last month Notre Dame vice president and athletics director Jack Swarbrick announced that a FieldTurf artificial surface will be installed for the 2014 football season. Installation of the new surface is slated to begin this week following the University’s May 16-18 Commencement Weekend. As a result, the natural grass will be removed this week.

In response to fans who expressed feelings about the sentimental value of the natural turf, the athletics department is offering 10-foot-square sections of sod that can be replanted. The sections of grass will be removed by Tuesday (May 20), packaged and shipped on Wednesday (May 21) for arrival to locations throughout the continental United States by Friday (May 23). Each section costs $149.95, which includes two-day shipping and comes with a certificate of authenticity attesting to it as genuine Notre Dame Stadium grass. Go to www.und.com/grass for details on purchasing sod.

Notre Dame is partnering with J.P. Enterprises out of Mississauga, Ontario, to handle logistics of the sale. Customer questions can be directed to ndturf@jpent.com.

The athletics department determined that the addition of artificial turf in Notre Dame Stadium would provide greater consistency for the Irish squad, considering it already practices both outdoors and indoors on FieldTurf. In addition, annual Commencement events and impending Campus Crossroads Project construction make ongoing maintenance of a grass field more difficult.

— ND —