World Cup / Stadium cooling upgrades, arenas adapted to FIFA’s strict standards

The prestige of hosting the World Cup also comes with the burden of major renovations across the 16 stadiums spread throughout North America.

Construction crews across the continent have spent thousands of work hours transforming the stadiums, including 11 NFL arenas, to ensure they meet FIFA requirements ahead of the global tournament that begins next month.

The scale of the work has varied from one stadium to another.

Most stadiums in the United States needed completely new natural grass surfaces to replace the artificial turf commonly used on many American fields. Other NFL stadiums were forced to remove seating sections to create the necessary space for the larger football pitch.

Even stadiums originally designed to host international football matches such as Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta are undergoing smaller adjustments. For example, Mercedes-Benz Stadium reconfigured sections of its seating to improve viewing angles and create more room for television cameras.

“Some of the stadiums that will host matches were not originally designed to meet these requirements, so they have had to make internal modifications to prepare for the tournament,” said Tyler Johnson from Henderson Engineers, a company working with five American stadiums ahead of the World Cup.

“This can mean removing parts of the lower stands to expand the playing surface or replacing artificial turf with natural grass,” he added.

Many of these changes, such as the natural grass fields, will be temporary. However, for many stadiums, the world’s biggest sporting event has also been used as an opportunity to upgrade VIP areas and improve the overall fan experience.

“Every stadium is different,” said Ryan Sickman, global sports director at Gensler, the company contributing to preparations at six of the 16 World Cup stadiums.

Changes that go unnoticed

Modified stands and new pitches will immediately catch the attention of fans. But many FIFA requirements will not be visible. For example, stadiums must provide separate entrances and exits for VIPs so they do not mix with the media or the general public.

“There have definitely been necessary upgrades inside the stadiums to create these separations,” said Sickman. “But organizers have also seen this as an opportunity to create new hospitality areas that can be used during the World Cup.”

With less than a month until the start of the tournament, most stadiums have completed their transformations to meet FIFA requirements. A large part of the work has also been done for sponsorship reasons. Some of the most famous stadiums in the United States will use temporary names during the World Cup.

Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, will not use its current name during the tournament. The same applies to Arrowhead Stadium, SoFi Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and Lumen Field.

All stadiums with sponsor names, including the 11 American venues, must use neutral names during the World Cup. FIFA requires this to avoid conflicts between stadium sponsors and the tournament’s official sponsors.

This cosmetic change is minor compared to the larger transformations in the stands.

At Kansas City’s stadium, workers removed 4,500 tons of concrete and 5,100 cubic yards of material to create the necessary space for the wider football pitch and greater media presence near the field. Officials said around 3,500 seats were relocated during the process.

While costs and workloads vary from one stadium to another, the projects have been extensive. Officials at AT&T Stadium in Texas stated that installing the new natural grass field alone required 45,000 combined work hours.

The changes may seem unusual to fans. In Kansas City, the pitch will not be centered inside the stadium. Due to structural limitations, it will be slightly shifted compared to the usual NFL field position.

However, this is a smaller intervention compared to the 17,000 additional seats added to BMO Stadium for the international tournament. The added capacity will be temporary and will partly rely on structures recycled from the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The temporary seats underwent a practical test during the match between Inter Miami CF and Toronto FC, where Lionel Messi also played, although some fans compared the stands to “a mechanical construction.”

“We received a lot of criticism publicly. People were saying: ‘What is this? It’s going to collapse, it’s not safe,’” said Sickman. “But everything was completely fine. It was tested and the viewing angles were excellent.”

Natural grass versus artificial turf

The changes in the stands will attract the attention of fans, but players are paying special attention to the pitches.

After years of resistance to natural grass, since artificial turf is easier to maintain and more practical for events such as concerts, NFL stadiums invested in lighting and irrigation systems for the World Cup.

Every participating stadium has installed a new natural grass pitch according to FIFA’s detailed guidelines. Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia brought grass from New Jersey. In Los Angeles, the owners of SoFi Stadium installed an irrigation system and transported grass from Washington State using refrigerated trucks.

Officials at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, emphasized that installing the Colorado-grown grass required 45,000 hours of labor and 15,000 tons of materials. The stadium is currently using special pink lights suspended from the roof to keep the grass in optimal condition.

“It’s the first time in the world these lights are being used,” said Ewan Hodge, FIFA’s head of pitch infrastructure. “They are all LED lights that provide the energy needed for the field to continue growing.”

The new grass field sits about 60 centimeters above the level where the Cowboys’ artificial turf is normally placed.

Like many NFL arenas, the stadium also removed some seating sections to create more space for corner kicks and media zones.

NFL players are watching this with envy.

While stadium owners are installing natural grass for World Cup footballers, American football players continue demanding the same standard.

“When it comes to FIFA, NFL owners roll out the green carpet for footballers,” said J.C. Tretter, head of the NFL Players Association, on the “Not Just Football” podcast. “We want good and safe fields.”

“Please? @NFL,” wrote Dallas Cowboys star CeeDee Lamb on Instagram while sharing a poll in which 92% of NFL players preferred natural grass over artificial turf.

However, NFL players will have to negotiate for that demand. Once the World Cup ends, the natural grass fields will be removed just as quickly as they were installed.

“We have more flexibility in how we manage the stadium surface. We do not believe natural grass is necessarily safer,” Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told Pro Football Talk. “Artificial turf, like many other things, improves the economics of organizing the game, and the biggest beneficiaries are the players themselves.”

High costs for stadiums

The World Cup reconstructions have brought significant costs for the host stadiums.

Estadio Banorte, traditionally known as Azteca Stadium, has spent 80 million dollars on renovations. Lumen Field invested 19.4 million dollars, while Arrowhead Stadium spent around 42.5 million dollars.

BMO Field tops the list with an investment of 146 million dollars.

The 2026 World Cup is considered a unique case among major international sporting events. Unlike previous editions or the Olympic Games, no new stadiums are being built this time. Developers consider this a point of pride.

Every few years, stories emerge about Olympic or World Cup stadiums that are abandoned after the event due to lack of use.

“We are part of a project that will not become a ‘white elephant’ after a mega-event,” said Sickman. “Toronto needed to expand BMO Field to 45,000 seats to host the World Cup. But it does not need that many seats for regular Toronto FC matches. Those 17,000 additional seats will be removed.”

Still, many developers and contractors have spent up to four years working on an event that peaks next month and still do not have clear plans for the post-tournament period.

“The focus has been almost entirely on this summer’s event,” said Johnson. “Discussions about what happens after the tournament are much fewer.”

The additional seats at BMO Field will be removed by autumn. Meanwhile, stadiums where concrete seating sections were removed, such as those in Kansas City and Philadelphia, have not yet made final decisions about their future plans.

“They still have flexibility to decide,” Johnson said. “They can restore the concrete structures or continue using temporary seating until the next project.”

The World Cup begins on June 11.

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