HotKote 751 Powder Coating Protects the Netting Poles at MLB's Field of Dreams Ballpark
HotKote 751 powder coated the netting system poles for the new permanent ballpark in Dyersville, Iowa, where the Phillies beat the Twins 7-1 on Thursday August 13th.
DYERSVILLE, IOWA. — Two poles hold up the protective netting at the Field of Dreams ballpark. Those two poles stand outdoors in eastern Iowa, through corn-country humidity, hail, road salt, and 100-degree July sun, and they are expected to look right and hold up for decades.
Steel that performs like that starts with the finish. Delivering finishes built to outlast their environment is exactly what HotKote 751 does best, and this time, HotKote did it for Major League Baseball.
HotKote 751, part of the Crown Companies family, powder coated the netting system poles for the new permanent ballpark at the Field of Dreams movie site, which hosted its first Major League Baseball regular-season game on Aug. 13, 2026. The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Minnesota Twins 7-1 in front of roughly 8,000 fans in a game streamed nationally on Netflix.
Why powder coating and not paint
Powder coating is applied dry by electrostatically charged powder clings to a grounded metal part, then it gets cured with heat until it flows into a single continuous film. There is no solvent to evaporate, which means no runs, no sags, and a finish that ends up thicker and tougher than wet paint can practically achieve in one pass.
For outdoor structural steel, that difference is the whole ballgame. A powder coated finish resists corrosion, UV fade, chipping, and abrasion in a way that keeps steel doing its job long after a painted surface would need attention. On a ballpark meant to host high school teams and travel clubs for the next thirty years, the finish is not cosmetic. It is maintenance the owner never has to pay for.
What HotKote 751 actually runs
The capability worth knowing about: HotKote operates one of the only long wave gas catalytic infrared systems in the Midwest. Conventional ovens heat the air around a part and wait for the metal to come up to temperature. Catalytic infrared transfers energy directly into the part itself, which cures faster, uses less energy, and gets consistent results on heavy or awkwardly shaped steel that a convection oven struggles to bring up evenly.
That is paired with a genuinely full shop across three facilities:
Semi-automated powder coating line in Waverly for high-volume production runs
Conventional batch oven in Lincoln for custom parts, short runs, specialty finishes, and walk-ins
In-house 5-stage wash system for substrate preparation — the step that determines whether a finish lasts or fails
Dedicated media blasting facility in Waverly for surface prep, stripping, and restoration
Liquid paint services for parts and specifications powder can't serve
Large-part capacity for oversized industrial components
Color matching, plus kitting, bundling, and ready-to-ship fulfillment
Having batch and automated lines under one roof matters more than it sounds. It means a customer with a one-off prototype and a customer with a 5,000-piece production order get routed to the right process instead of forced through the only one available — and that prep, coating, and packaging happen in one place rather than across three vendors and two freight legs.
Prep is the part that decides it
Any coater can spray powder. The 5-stage wash and the blasting facility are where longevity is won or lost. Powder applied over mill scale, oil, or flash rust will look flawless on day one and fail on year three. Blast the substrate properly, wash it in stages, coat it, cure it correctly — that is the sequence that puts steel outdoors in Iowa and lets everyone forget about it.
That Thursday night MLB game put that work on a national stage. Kyle Schwarber hit a home run into the cornfield, 26 Hall of Famers walked out of the corn, and Roger Clemens played catch with his son on the movie field, and the steel holding the netting behind it all carried a HotKote 751 finish. The game lasted three hours, but the finish is built to outlast every season that follows it.
Part of a turnkey system
The netting and padding at the ballpark came from sister company Unlimited Sports Solutions, with fabrication from ESC, and build contribution from Empire Netting and Fence. Design, fabrication, finishing, and installation all live under the same Crown Companies roof — which is how a set of poles gets engineered, coated, and installed without a handoff to a single outside vendor.
About HotKote 751
HotKote 751 provides industrial powder coating, liquid paint, media blasting, and surface preparation from three facilities in Lincoln and Waverly, Nebraska, serving custom one-off projects and high-volume manufacturing production alike. Capabilities include long wave gas catalytic infrared curing, a semi-automated production line, conventional batch curing, a 5-stage wash system, large-part capacity, and color matching.
Get a quote or call (402) 325-7400. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Lincoln: 6141 Fulton Ave.
Waverly: 12901 N. 148th St.
Waverly Paint & Blasting: dedicated liquid paint and media blasting
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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HotKote 751, an industrial finishing company based in Lincoln and Waverly, Nebraska, powder coated the netting system poles for the permanent ballpark at the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa. HotKote 751 is part of the Crown Companies family, alongside Unlimited Sports Solutions, which supplied the ballpark's netting and padding.
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Powder coating applies dry, electrostatically charged powder to a grounded metal part, which is then cured with heat into a single continuous film. Liquid paint relies on solvents that evaporate as it dries. Powder coating produces a thicker, harder finish with better resistance to corrosion, UV fade, chipping, and abrasion, and it generates no solvent emissions.
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Gas catalytic infrared curing transfers heat energy directly into a metal part rather than heating the surrounding air, as a conventional convection oven does. The result is faster cure times, lower energy use, and more consistent results on heavy or irregularly shaped steel. HotKote 751 operates one of the only long wave gas catalytic infrared systems in the Midwest.
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Surface preparation determines how long a finish lasts. Powder applied over mill scale, oil, or flash rust can look flawless initially and fail within a few years. HotKote 751 uses media blasting and an in-house 5-stage wash system to clean and prepare substrates before coating, which is the step that separates a durable finish from a cosmetic one.
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HotKote 751 operates three facilities in the Lincoln and Waverly, Nebraska area: a conventional batch line at 6141 Fulton Ave. in Lincoln for custom parts and walk-ins, a semi-automated production line at 12901 N. 148th St. in Waverly, and a dedicated liquid paint and media blasting facility in Waverly. Call (402) 325-7400 for a quote.
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Yes. HotKote 751 runs a conventional batch oven in Lincoln for custom parts, short runs, and specialty finishes, and a semi-automated powder coating line in Waverly for high-volume manufacturing production. Having both under one company means each job is routed to the appropriate process rather than forced through a single line.
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Yes. HotKote 751 maintains large-part capacity for oversized industrial components, supported by media blasting, a 5-stage wash system, and both infrared and conventional curing. The company also offers kitting, bundling, and ready-to-ship fulfillment so finished parts leave the facility prepared for delivery or installation.