PORTLAND — The Providence Park ground will feel a bit different on Sunday when the Portland Timbers kick off the Major League Soccer season — not only because a new championship banner will be gracing the place.

A new artificial field was installed over the offseason, keeping Portland on the leading edge of artificial surfaces for soccer.

The fake grass at Providence Park is FieldTurf Revolution 360, the newest generation of FieldTurf. This is the second time the Timbers have replaced their home turf since entering MLS in 2011. The previous version was installed prior to the 2014 season. The club plans to install new turf every two seasons.

Because it is new and the imitation grass blades are standing upright, the ball rolls slower than it does on more worn surfaces according to Timbers coach Caleb Porter. To get a feel for it, the Timbers trained Friday and will train on Saturday at Providence Park instead of at their training facility in Beaverton.

“It’s the best turf in the world in terms of technology, it’s just different than what it was last year and it’s different than our training turf because it’s new,” Porter said. “When it’s new it plays a little bit different than a year or two after you’ve put it in.”