NFL's turf guru has meticulous journey to prepare Levi's Stadium field for Super Bowl

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Nick Pappas' process for preparing the Super Bowl field got underway long before the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots started getting ready for the 2025 season. The NFL's turf guru picked the sod farm that began growing the field for the game about 16 months ago and spent time since then monitoring the progress. The job went into overdrive in January when Pappas and his crew started a monthlong installation and preparation process to make sure that the story of the game is about the teams and not the grass. The field at Levi's Stadium will be the stage for the country's most-watched sporting event of the year on Feb. 8, along with the pregame and halftime festivities and concerts that make Super Bowl Sunday a cultural capstone. "I always joke with everyone, it's the most expensive real estate there is, everyone wants a piece of it," Pappas said. "Trying to set that calendar up in a way that we have this time and space available to maintain it and work on the field and prepare it, but also provide time and slots for all those different entertainment pieces, the halftime rehearsals and so on. That becomes a bit of a challenge just to make sure that we can all get what we need done." The process is an intensive one, starting with picking the sod farm to grow the turf. Pappas settled on a farm about two hours east of Levi's Stadium in what was an easy choice as he had used the same farm to grow the grass for Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas two years ago and that farm also is used by the San Francisco 49ers. Pappas visited the farm every few months to monitor the three potential fields, cutting samples to test the surfaces for quality and appearance before settling on the winning choice earlier this month. Pappas' crew then began removing the 49ers' old field on Jan. 6 — three days after the team's regular-season finale — and then put down the new surface for the Super Bowl on Jan. 8. Because the 49ers were still in the playoffs at that time and had a remote chance of hosting the NFC title game this past Sunday, Pappas was prepared to bring in a second field after that game if necessary. That quickly proved unnecessary on wild-card weekend when a loss by Green Bay ended hopes of a 49ers home playoff game so the focus quickly turned to getting the field ready for the Super Bowl. Most of the first two weeks were focused on getting the field in its best shape after rolling it out at Levi's Stadium. The crew aerates and top dresses the field to help create thicker grass, better drainage and a firmer field, mows it to get it to the proper length and uses fertilizer, grow lights and water to get it into the best condition possible. A dry January helped make the process easier, allowing the grounds crew to better control the amount of water for the field, and the grass spent much of each day under pink LED lights. The field also undergoes extensive testing to ensure it is optimal for safety and performance. That proved to be a big issue three years ago when the field in Arizona was criticized for being too slippery, impacting the game won by Kansas City over Philadelphia. The NFL uses two main tools to test fields around the league to measure traction and to determine that the surface isn't too hard or soft. The BEAST — Biomechanical Elite Athlete Surface Tester — uses a robotic leg with a cleat to mimic the way NFL players jump, stop, start and change direction to make sure the field isn't too sticky or slippery. The field will be tested in 60 spots several times between installation and game day. "We test the field spatially and determine that the end zones are playing like the center field and they're playing like the wings of the field," said Philipe Aldahir, head of research and innovation for Biocore, the company that provides the BEAST to the league. "That's one dimension. The other one is over time. This field is fresh and it's new and as activity takes place between now and the game, we want to ensure a similar level of traction from day one to the game." The STRIKE is also used at about 60 spots around the field and tests the firmness of the field. The final touches included painting the yard lines, the logos and then finally the team logos for the end zone happen this week once the matchup was set. The league uses a seasoned vet for that job with Brian Johnson in charge of painting the field. Johnson began working on the Super Bowl crew 30 years ago when it was played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, when Johnson worked at Arizona State. "Painting 'The Shield' is his baby," Pappas said. Then the field gets turned over to the users, with the entertainers beginning their work on the field this week before the game. "Everyone's goal is to deliver perfection," Pappas said. "Whether you're the group delivering the halftime show or you're field crew delivering the field, the goal is perfection for everyone. So we have to work together and find a way to make it all happen."