Copycat Alert: There’s a New Blue Turf and It’s Not In Boise

It's world famous--literally.

I'm talking about the blue turf at Albertsons Stadium and icon that it has become in the world of not just collegiate football, but football in general.  You take the "little guys" from Boise, Idaho and put them up against just about any major program in the nation and time after time, the Broncos compete and win. Travel and tell someone you're from Boise and you will hear one of three things:

• "Oh, Iowa!"
• "You must love potatoes"
• "Oh, with the blue field!"

A Bronco fan or not, we're tied to the power of The Blue no matter what, Boise.

First installed in 1986-- it was a "crazy" idea to install a blue field. The first school in the entire country to have a non-green field, Boise State University, is now an icon for it. Of course, you've heard the rumors that Boise State has "dibs" on the blue field and yes, that's true.

In 2011, Boise State University obtained a federal trademark registration for: "the color blue as applied to artificial turf". 

I reached out to Spencer Jahn of Boise State's licensing department and he had this to say:

When another school wants to install a non-green field, they reach out to my office (Boise State Trademark Licensing and Enforcement) via email with details of the project. The request is evaluated on a number of factors (turf color, location, who uses the field, etc.) and if approved, a license is granted at no charge. Most requests are approved

Well, sorry Bronco fans--Boise State no longer has THE blue turf--not even in just the Northwest.

The Spokane Shock in Spokane, Washington have installed a new turf--a BLUE turf--for their Indoor Football League team.

You can see in the tweets above that really, this field with the orange numbering looks just like a miniature, replica field.

We asked Spencer John of Boise State University about this--does only a school need to seek permission to have a blue turf? 

 The answer is no: ANYONE that wants a blue turf has to ask Boise State University first.  It's safe to assume in this case that yes, the Spokane Shock had to ask and were eventually granted, permission.

We're still salty about the copycat, though.

See some photos of this "mini" blue in action, below: