Nick Pappas can list the types of field surfaces in international stadiums the same way a quarterback can call plays in the pocket.
Hybrid rye grass in Croke Park in Dublin. Hybrid blue grass stitched at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Hybrid rye grass stitched at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. These three are the new host cities this season on the NFL’s busy international schedule.
As NFL field director, Pappas’ job is to make sure international surfaces meet league standards. But expanding American football around the world presents some challenges.
“Our athletes are very unique in the fact that they are bigger, stronger and faster than most athletes,” Pappas said.
And when players weighing more than 300 pounds plant their feet and hit each other for three hours on a Sunday, it can take a toll on a soccer surface.
“Therefore, the surface needs increase dramatically compared to soccer, where players move in space,” Pappas said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The style of play they play is a little less demanding for the field.”
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Grass types
Most European courses use cool-season grass, which is rye or bluegrass, or a mix of both, Pappas said. Warm-season Bermuda grass is used on most NFL natural grass fields in the United States.
Bermuda grass is stronger and provides more stability.
“Typical rye and bluegrass can be a little more challenging, so we end up relying more on hybrid fields when we go internationally, and that’s already typically what’s being used in those places,” said Pappas, who began overseeing international fields in the 2022 season.
The hybrid versions are still primarily natural grass, but reinforced with synthetic fibers that comprise up to 7% of the surface, Pappas explained.
Croke Park’s hybrid “carpet” surface was installed three weeks before the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Ireland.
Wembley Stadium, where the Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, uses the same type of surface.
At the Bernabéu, synthetic fibers are sewn into the grass.
“A machine goes in and places fibers about seven inches deep in the soil, and those fibers extend up to the grass canopy,” he explained. “Like all hybrid systems, that’s what provides a lot of the traction and stabilization.”
The stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the NFL has held two games, also uses a stitched system, Pappas added.
From Mbappé to Tua
On November 16, in the first NFL game in Spain, the Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders will play on the same hybrid grass surface as Kylian Mbappé and his Real Madrid teammates.
“Right, that same surface,” Pappas stated.
At the beginning of its renovation of the Bernabéu, Real Madrid had outlined a plan similar to that of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a retractable grass field that would give way to a synthetic one to be used for American football.
The Bernabéu multi-panel pitch is preserved underground.
“Everything is controlled by the weather, and then they bring out that field when they’re ready to play on it,” Pappas explained.
“The Bernabéu, they didn’t design it in conjunction with us, like Tottenham did, and they didn’t build it specifically for the NFL, there was still a lot to figure out when we started determining where we were going to play in Spain.”
The football fields are shorter than what is needed for the NFL, so they had to make sure there was enough space.
“Ultimately, we decided to use their technologies and then build off of that instead of having to make a whole new artificial field there,” Pappas said.
At the Olympiastadion in Berlin, a stitched hybrid blue grass pitch was installed this summer. The Indianapolis Colts will face the Atlanta Falcons there on November 9.
It’s not always easy abroad
In 2018, the NFL had to cancel a game at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City due to poor field conditions.
Germany’s first regular season game was a huge success three years ago. Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-16 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
The only drawback? The slippery field.
Bayern Munich’s home stadium had a 100% natural grass pitch at the time. One player from Seattle complained about flying ten hours to play on a “terrible” course. Bucs coach Todd Bowles said it was “very slippery.” The following summer, Bayern Munich switched to a hybrid pitch.
“We have continued to learn that it is important for us to make some of the changes we believe are necessary at the beginning to ensure quality at the end,” Pappas said.
The NFL pushed for a hybrid field for its two games at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt in 2023.
After the game in Croke Park, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said the field was “impeccable.” Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson described the grass as “a little slippery.”
Pappas, who also works the Super Bowl field each season, knows that criticism is part of the job.
“I’ve gotten the good and the bad on the broadcast side. I’ve seen good courses perform very well, and I’ve seen courses perform not so well,” he said.
“Every game I play is an opportunity to learn something, and we get something new out of it and it makes us better for the next one.”
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