Local company in charge of the field for Super Bowl LVII
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles are set to battle at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The battle for supremacy in the NFL will be played on grass with a connection to the Coachella Valley.
A sod farm in Arizona owned and operated by Palm Desert-based West Coast Turf.
"This is number nine that we've done. So, this is the second out of Arizona and sixth out of Palm Desert and one out of Northern California," said Jay Danek, general manager of West Coast Turf.
Nine of the 57 super bowls will have been played on West Coast Turf.
Danek, dubbed "Mr. Wise Grass" is the man in charge of this technical process.
"We cut it in the morning, and then took it over and installed it right away. So, started harvest about 3 a.m. here in Scottsdale, it's about an hour from our farm," Danek said.
"And they have a unique situation over there in Glendale, right? Don't they have a situation where the grass can move in and out of the stadium?" John White asked Danek.
Danek answered, "Yeah, so that's a nice feature they have. So they pull up what's called a tray and they full this tray of sand out into the parking lot. So we can get full son on the field."
Today, the staff at State Farm Stadium rolled the Super Bowl LVII field outside for some sun:pic.twitter.com/dBm9HsZseP
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) February 8, 2023
The sod is cut at two inches after being grown on a plastic layer, so the roots don't have to be cut for the grass to be moved. A technique they've perfected here in our desert, all aimed at getting the perfect result.
"My guess is your goal is that people are going to think it's a beautiful-looking field, but other than that, there won't be any discussion about the field," John White said.
"A perfect day is we don't ever hear the word anything about the field. I don't need them to talk about it," Danek responded, with a laugh.
The Super Bowl isn't their only gig this weekend. They're also at the WM Phoenix Open in Scottsdale known as the greatest show on grass.
"We do quite a bit of side work out there and we actually just did the Waste Management logo. We do it every year on the 16. So between the tees, we put a big wm in there and then paint it green and gold, green and yellow out there," Danek said.
A busy week at two big venues.
