The City of Cape Town is to install a new pitch at the DHL Stadium next year, in order to maintain the 55 000-seat facility’s reputation as a top international sports tourism and events destination.

According to a statement from the City, the future pitch will be a “combination of artificial and natural grass – offering greater stabilisation and the most recent technology in pitch design, to ensure that the stadium remains aligned to the very best international benchmarks for both rugby and soccer”.

The pitch replacement is anticipated to take place between July and October next year.

The new pitch will also enable the stadium to have a speedier turnaround time for concerts – with less recovery time needed for the pitch as it will be more resilient. This will result in fewer potential date conflicts between concerts that are generally hosted during the week and sporting events over the weekends.  

Lesley De Reuck, Stadium CEO, said: “The new pitch will ensure we remain on a par with the best stadiums in the world, and continue to attract showcase events like the Vodacom URC Final, HSBC 7s, Monster Jam and international artists, contributing to our ongoing success.”