the playing field at husky stadium was originally dirt, which was then replaced with natural grass in 1938. in 1968, washington became one of the first major college teams to play on astroturf at home; at the time, the houston astrodome, neyland stadium in knoxville, tennessee, and camp randall stadium in madison, wisconsin, were the only other major facilities with artificial turf. the astroturf field was replaced in 1972, 1977, 1987, and 1995. fieldturf, a new variation of synthetic turf, was installed in 2000 at a cost of $1,074,958. the new turf features enhanced drainage and reduced abrasion through the use of synthetic fibers that are tufted into an infill of sand and rubber. the project was funded by seattle seahawks owner paul allen, who used husky stadium as a temporary home venue during the construction of centurylink field. the first of its kind in the nfl, the surface was so popular with the players that the seahawks, who had planned to use natural grass at their new stadium, instead installed their own fieldturf surface. the fieldturf at husky stadium was replaced with a newer one after nine seasons in 2009 at a cost of $350,000.