On a crisp weekday morning at Friendship Park, nestled along Taitu Street, Awel Hamza stood hunched over, hands resting on his knees after a spirited two-hour football match. A school-bus driver by profession, Awel has been lacing up his boots at this riverside venue twice a week for the past year, part of a 20-strong team that traded the city’s dusty lots for synthetic turf installed under a government-led “castle” park project.

“This field is nice and comfortable,” he said, still catching his breath. “But it’s not perfect.”

Comfort, it turns out, comes at a cost, one that displayed the quiet but seismic shift underway in the capital’s recreational landscape, where football fields have evolved from free public spaces into monetised zones of privilege and profit.

At Friendship Park, booking and payment run entirely through Telebirr, the state-owned mobile-money platform. Each player in Awel’s group pays 5,000 Br for a six-month membership that covers parking. Together, the team shells out 12,000 Br a month, or 72,000 Br over the contract period. That sum buys two sessions a week, but the arrangement exposes a nagging problem of upkeep that players encounter repeatedly.

“Most fields face the same issues,” Awel said last week, trying to catch his breath. “The grass gets old, the ground uneven, the nets tear. At Friendship Park, there are no showers, and cleanliness in the morning is poor. Some of us go straight to work after games. It’s tough without showers.”

Waiting outside the fence for his team’s turn, gym owner and car dealer Yosef Kassay nodded along. Friendship Park is his first field, where he has been coming for more than six months.

“I love the park," he said. "I’m not leaving.”

Yosef echoed complaints about maintenance and the lack of showers, even as he and his 18 teammates divide the same monthly fee. Running the Park’s four pitches is no casual affair.

However, demand is heaviest in the cool morning and late-afternoon windows when long-term members arrive. Weekends are tighter, and pricier. A two-hour block costs 1,800 Br on weekdays and 2,250 Br on weekends for a team of up to 18 people. Most squads lock in six-month packages, costing 46,800 Br if they play on weekdays or 58,500 Br if they insist on weekend slots.

“We rarely get complaints about the price,” said Derbew Awoke, the sports coordinator who has supervised the operation for three years. “What we hear is about shade, showers, benches, and things outside the turf itself.”

Rules are strict. No food or drinks are allowed on the grass, and jerseys are required. In exchange, players skip the Park’s 100 Br entrance fee and pay a capped 50 Br for parking.

The model has migrated far beyond public parks. Schools and colleges, squeezed for funding, now view their grounds as revenue sources. Nifas Silk Polytechnic College in the city’s southwest leased its field to a private partner under a five-year deal.

“After the contract, the field returns to us with improvements,” said Shelema Nigusu, dean of the School.

The arrangement provides staff with exercise space, the contractor with a steady business, and the College with 25,000 Br per month in rental income. Flush with the cash and lessons learned, the College recently spent more than two million Birr to build a second pitch of its own.

“It wasn’t easy or cheap,” Shelema told Fortune, “but the outcome is worth it.”

Players, including Nathan Amanuel, a 24-year-old software engineering student at Addis Ababa University, flocked to the new surface. He has been renting the Nifas Silk pitch for six months, paying 16,000 Br per month for four sessions, each lasting two hours. With more than 22 regulars, the cost works out to about 200 Br per person per match, still a bargain compared to the city’s nightlife. However, Nathan’s chief gripe is availability.