Nike ACG’s latest innovation is a fully portable soccer field
Nike’s recently relaunched sub-brand, ACG, just created a soccer field that can host a game anywhere—from a snowy slope to an island vista or a desert landscape. It’s made of more than 1,500 portable components.
The creative agency Amsterdam Berlin designed the pitch kit, called the “All Conditions Cup System.” It includes everything one might need to host a game—from goals and field lines to chairs, lights, and whistles—all made out of lightweight, portable materials.
The All Conditions Cup System was designed for the announcement of a new apparel collection between ACG and the Italian soccer club Inter Milan. (ACG, which stands for “All Conditions Gear,” recently provided inflatable team jackets for Team USA Winter Olympians and Paralympians.) As part of the launch, ACG commissioned a soccer pitch (playing field) that could be erected on the snowy mountainside of Piedmont, Italy, for an immersive five-on-five game.
When it comes to professional sports infrastructure, we’re used to seeing games played inside massive billion-dollar stadiums that permanently alter the rhythms of their home cities. For this activation, ACG and Amsterdam Berlin built a system that purposefully strips out all of those bells and whistles to focus on the natural environment around the game.
A soccer field that leaves no trace
The assembly process of the All Conditions Cup System is similar to pitching a giant tent.
Each of the kit’s 1,677 components was designed to be easily transported on foot or with sleds, according to Moritz Grub, Amsterdam Berlin’s founder and creative director. The “field” itself is made out of a series of minimal neon orange straps, which are staked into the ground to create the rectangular zones of play.
The bulkier elements of the setup—including both goals, the kit’s four 7-meter-tall floodlights, and 80 chairs—are primarily constructed out of 50-millimeter-wide recycled aluminum tubes that are ultra-light yet durable. Custom click-fit connectors allow these pieces to easily join together, meaning spectators are even able to assemble their own chairs on the field.
The system can also be adapted to different climates by using a series of interchangeable foot attachments, which resemble claws or stakes. “This means it can be installed on sand, snow, rocky ground, or other difficult surfaces,” Grub says. “In addition, it is height-adjustable and can be easily leveled to uneven terrain.” The fact that orange is one of ACG’s core brand colors, he notes, was a bonus: The system is easily visible in contrast to the snow, dirt, or grass.
When it’s time to pack up the pitch, every piece of the kit can be stored in weather-resistant ripstop bags, which are light enough to carry or lug on a sled. The entire system weighs 2 tons, and it is compact enough to fit inside a small van. It was also designed around a principle of “low-to-no impact” for temporary land use—which means that the whole setup is completely reversible and leaves no physical traces on the actual site.
For now, Amsterdam Berlin says it doesn’t have plans to make the system a commercially available product. Still, the design offers an interesting case study in making soccer (aka “football” in the vast majority of the world) a more accessible, environmentally friendly sport that’s playable in almost any climate and on almost any terrain.