The sod has been rolled out on the infield dirt at Toyota Field and the pitching mound has been scraped away. The baseball field that’s home to the Rocket City Trash Pandas is getting a new look.

Toyota Field will host its first college football game Saturday at 6 p.m. when the University of North Alabama plays Jacksonville State University.

Related: Jacksonville State, North Alabama will renew football rivalry at Toyota Field

There will be some quirks: The offense for both teams will go the same direction for both teams the entire game – from left field to the first base dugout – and the marching bands will be situated beyond the outfield fences.

A crowd of about 10,000 people is expected, which will be the largest in-house event held at the Madison minor league baseball stadium that opened in 2020. The previous mark was about 7,500 people for Trash Panda games and the extra seating will be bleachers located along the south sideline in the outfield.

But the bottom line is the bottom line, at least for Huntsville and Madison officials.

The event is expected to have an economic impact for the Madison County area of about $1 million, according to Joel Lamp, sports manager for the Huntsville-Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“We’re taking a dead time at Toyota Field and turning it into an economic impact for Madison County,” Lamp said.

Indeed, the season for the Trash Pandas – the stadium’s primary tenant — ended in the playoffs last month. So to add an event that will be the facility’s largest, Lamp said that’s huge.

It’s huge for the city of Madison as well. The city built the $46 million stadium factoring in non-baseball events as part of its revenue to pay for the facility. Mayor Paul Finley said he sees benefits beyond the immediate economic windfall driven primarily by the filling of hotel rooms and restaurants.

That includes introducing out-of-town visitors to the sprawling Town Madison development that houses the stadium.

“A lot of people will learn about Madison for the first time and the Town Madison area, which we’re really excited about,” Finley said.

“Part of what we recognized with the Trash Pandas was the other events that would come in addition to baseball. This would be one of the bigger ones that we’ve had. You tie it together with the Christmas light show that has so many people that come through here. So those types of events truly make a difference to the bottom line.”

There are other benefits as well. MartinFed — a federal solutions company headquartered in Huntsville — will be the game’s presenting sponsor and Lamp pointed out that the game will be televised on ESPN+.

“So now, hey, you’re live from Madison at Toyota Field,” Lamp said. “That’s something we don’t get a lot of so that’s an added bonus for us.”

Playing one-direction football also gives the game a unique twist. The format is dictated by the space available on the field with the layout not having enough buffer space beyond the end zone on the east end to permit playing both directions.

It’s believed to be only the second time in Division I history where a game will be played in that format – preceded by Northwestern playing Illinois in 2010 at Wrigley Field, the home of baseball’s Chicago Cubs.

“That’s just pretty cool to be tied together with Wrigley Field,” Finley said.

The project began about a year ago when UNA Athletic Director Josh Looney raised the prospect to Lamp. It raises UNA’s profile in Alabama’s largest city and brings the Lions to play a game in a facility where the school has purchased advertising atop the stadium’s two dugouts since its opening.

The excitement over the game for UNA is evident, Looney said, by the fact that the school sold out its allotment of tickets in July. Fewer than 1,000 tickets remain available for the game and tickets are available on the Trash Pandas website.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” Looney said. “We’re the fastest growing university in the state of Alabama. We’re the newest Division I athletic department in the country. It’s a great week — we passed over 10,000 students at our university, a significant milestone. Our university just hit its record ranking in the U.S. News & World Report (ratings).

“It’s tremendous momentum for us at the university right now. And this is a great time to have this game in this park.”

The Trash Pandas are urging people to arrive as early as possible at the stadium due to parking. The overflow lot will be at Hexagon about two miles west of the stadium. Shuttle service will be provided at the overflow lot.

The stadium parking lot will open at 11 a.m. and stadium gates at 3 p.m. A clear-bag policy will be in effect and Toyota Field is a cashless facility – which also includes parking.