EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – With two games beginning less than 21 hours apart and inclement weather in the forecast, MetLife Stadium, the Giants and the Jets announced today that neutral end zones will be used for the teams' games this weekend.
The Jets host the Houston Texans Saturday at 4:30 p.m., while the Giants face the Tennessee Titans Sunday at 1 p.m.
Normally, the end zones include the colors and name of the home team. Six panels make up each end zone and are rolled out using a forklift. The two large rolls weigh 10,000 pounds apiece, and the four smaller rolls weigh 5,000 pounds each.
A neutral end zone features green turf with nine diagonal slash marks.
This is the second time neutral end zones will be used for NFL games in MetLife Stadium since it opened in 2010. They were first used on Dec. 17-18, 2016, when the Jets hosted the Miami Dolphins on a Saturday night at 8:25, and the Giants faced the Detroit Lions the following day at 1 p.m.
The stadium has had 11 overnight changeovers since 2013 (when the new end zone system was implemented), most recently on Aug. 9-10 of this year when the Giants and Jets hosted preseason games on consecutive nights.
After the conclusion of the Jets game on Saturday evening, the MetLife Stadium Operations team will have approximately 12 hours to complete the building changeover. The goal is to have the stadium ready for player warmups by 9 a.m. on Sunday – four hours before the Giants and Titans kick off.
To reach the goal, the stadium will mobilize a small army of 60 laborers in the stadium and parking lots (three times the customary number). There are more than 1,200 manual elements that need to be changed out in the stadium and lots, including green to blue gel packs that up-light the venue, field wall, Ring of Honor, plaza banners, suite and press box artwork.
A standard changeover requires 50 cleaners. For this changeover, 200 additional cleaners will be deployed.
