NFL stadium conversions from turf to grass for World Cup soccer proves challenging, especially at indoor venues

The concept sounds simple enough for seven of the 11 NFL stadiums being used in this summer’s World Cup: just rip up the artificial turf and plant some grass.

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Nick Pappas, the league’s field director who oversees the playing field for the Super Bowl and all international games, knows otherwise.

“Growing grass anywhere for sports is a challenge,” said Pappas, a 2012 UMass graduate who is consulting for the grass installation at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “When you remove more of those natural abilities such as natural light and rainfall, it becomes even more of a challenge.”

One of FIFA’s many demands for the 2026 World Cup was the installation of natural grass fields at all 16 venues across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. And not just grass, but a hybrid surface reinforced with synthetic fibers, similar to the playing surface at Lambeau Field, considered among the best.

The turf requirements have been in place for the last several World Cups.

NFL stadiums in Miami, San Francisco, Kansas City, and Philadelphia already have natural grass. But venues such as the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium and others in New York, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Seattle had to be converted this spring.

FIFA also required the stadiums to install underground irrigation, ventilation, and drainage systems, with sprinkler heads that pop up. Officials in Dallas boasted that transforming their field used a combined 45,000 man hours and 15,000 tons of materials.

There is no standard procedure for growing and installing the grass across the 16 venues, as the elements vary widely. Matches in Miami, Kansas City, and the Northeast will be hot and humid outdoors. Matches in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Toronto, and Vancouver will be indoors, the most such venues in a single World Cup. Matches in Mexico will be at high altitude, and matches on the West Coast will be in modest climes.

While all conversions from artificial to natural grass are expensive and laborious, the indoor stadiums present unique challenges. Mercedes-Benz, which opened in 2017, has a retractable roof, but was not designed for natural grass. Same with AT&T Stadium in suburban Dallas and NRG Stadium in Houston. LA’s SoFi Stadium isn’t a full dome, but has a translucent roof blocking 65 percent of sunlight.

Growing vegetation indoors is certainly common, but maintaining a FIFA-sized soccer pitch indoors over two months is unprecedented. The grass in each indoor stadium has been laid for more than a week, but an NFL source said one venue had to start over because the grass didn’t take the first time.

“Growing grass indoors has been proven possible,” Pappas said. “The question becomes, do you have enough time and resources to recover the grass before you use it again?”

The first issue to figure out at the three domed stadiums was how to create the ideal environment for indoor growing. The solution was to turn each stadium into a massive greenhouse — keeping the retractable roof closed for the entire six-week duration of the World Cup, and blasting the air conditioning.

Opening the roof would provide sunlight, but any benefits would be outweighed by outside heat and humidity.

“You’re now having to water more trying to keep the grass cool and keeping it from dying and burning out,” Pappas said. “Everything’s really sensitive. Even something like having the bay doors open around the field can create a draft, and that could increase how fast the field dries out. So keeping the AC running, keeping it cooler in the building, and using supplemental light rigs as much as we can and treating it like a greenhouse.”

The grass therefore needed to be grown in a cold-weather environment. Atlanta and Houston got their sod from a farm in Colorado, using a hybrid of bluegrass and rye that has been growing for more than a year.

“Not a grass you would typically grow on a sports field in Atlanta,” Pappas said.

But once the grass is installed, the challenge is only beginning. Dallas will host nine matches between June 14 and July 14, and Atlanta will host eight between June 15 and July 15.

Refurbishing the field and keeping it in pristine condition is no easy task indoors. This is why FIFA also requires exclusive use of the stadiums throughout the World Cup, with no other events on the field other than some training and pre-match rehearsals.

“Once the grass goes inside, it’s really hard to make the grass better than the day it went in,” Pappas said. “It’s more of, how much can you slow the degradation process and make sure you’re recovering in a tournament like this.”

Pappas, who ascended to the NFL’s chief turf expert role three years ago, is as eager to watch the grass-growing experiment unfold as he is the world-class soccer being played on it.

“Certainly, it will be fun to recap at the end of the tournament,” Pappas said. “As a field and surface enthusiast, I’m obviously very excited to learn from the experience, and talk to some of my colleagues and hear what they’ve experienced and some of the challenges they may face and the success stories that come out of it.”

The highly anticipated trade between the Eagles and Patriots for A.J. Brown might finally reach its conclusion soon, with the magic June 2 date hitting this Tuesday. Trading the wide receiver after June 1 allows the Eagles to split his dead salary cap money over two years ($16 million this year, $27 million next year) instead of taking all $43 million in 2026.

But just because the Eagles can trade Brown early in the week doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen right away. NFL Network reported Thursday that the Eagles and Patriots are “not particularly close,” and it’s easy to see why.

One, by all accounts, the Patriots are the only team involved in the trade talks. Were another team interested in trading for Brown, the Eagles surely would have leaked it by now. The Eagles may want a first-round pick in return, but the Patriots are negotiating against themselves and have the leverage.

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That could change if another team gets involved. Several teams need a receiver, including the Chiefs, Ravens, Colts, Rams, Chargers, Falcons, and Seahawks. But considering Brown will be 29, costs $50 million the next two years ($29 million in 2026), has a balky knee, and has caused some locker-room friction in the past, it doesn’t seem as if any other team is going to get into the mix. Free agents Stefon Diggs and Deebo Samuel are available and cheaper, without having to give up a draft pick.

Two, while June 2 is the magic date for a trade to be executed, the deadline is really three months from now. The bulk of Brown’s money for this year ($27.45 million) comes in an option bonus that doesn’t have to be triggered until the day before the first game of the regular season. The Eagles don’t have to pay Brown anything until then, so they have all the way until Sept. 12 before needing to move him.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman isn’t going to just give Brown away, and has three months to drum up the best offer.

The Patriots will probably want to execute a deal soon, just so they can get Brown in for spring football and get him acclimated before training camp. A solution might be offering the Eagles a first-round pick in 2028 or 2029. But there’s no guarantee the trade will happen next week, and it could easily drag out over several weeks or months.

The Patriots are also dealing with a contractual issue with cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who wasn’t in attendance at voluntary practices this past week as he seeks a new deal.

Now that Gonzalez has completed three NFL seasons, he is eligible for a new contract, and he is likely looking to match or exceed the contract just signed by Rams corner Trent McDuffie averaging $31 million per year. The Colts’ Ahmad Gardner ($30.1 million) and the Texans’ Derek Stingley ($30 million) are the other two corners at $30 million per year.

Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf has expressed a desire to extend Gonzalez this offseason, but the Patriots aren’t going to hand out a market-breaking contract without serious negotiations first. Considering training camp is two months out and the season more than three months, there isn’t a ton of urgency to commence a deal.

While Gonzalez is one of the most valuable players in the NFL — an elite player at a premium position who turns just 24 next month — the Patriots still hold most of the leverage. Gonzalez is under contract for about $21 million the next two years ($2.8 million this year, $18.12 million next), so that’s where the negotiation starts. The Patriots will give him a raise and potentially reset the market at cornerback, but Gonzalez won’t cash in like he were a true unrestricted free agent. For example, Stingley’s three-year, $90 million extension is really a five-year, $112 million deal ($22.5 million average).

Being under contract also means the Patriots can fine Gonzalez for every mandatory day he misses. It might behoove Gonzalez to skip mandatory minicamp next month, as it will only cost him a total of $107,911 over three days. But the Patriots can fine Gonzalez $45,000 for every day of training camp he skips, and can invalidate his guarantees and toll his contract were he to stage a lengthy holdout.

It’s likely why Wolf has mentioned multiple times this offseason that Gonzalez is “under contract.”

One other element may be standing in the way between Gonzalez and a new deal — the Seahawks’ Devon Witherspoon, another fourth-year corner looking for a new contract. Witherspoon, a three-time Pro Bowler, is under contract for $5 million this year and $21 million next year, and he and Seattle reportedly are not close on a new deal. It’s possible that Gonzalez and Witherspoon are both angling to be the highest-paid cornerback, and neither wants to blink first.

It seems likely that the Patriots will come to an agreement with Gonzalez before the regular season. He’s a franchise cornerstone, and the team won’t want to wait another year because it has a massive negotiation looming next spring with quarterback Drake Maye. But don’t be surprised if the Patriots make Gonzalez sweat it out for a few weeks in training camp to get a better deal for themselves.

Andy Reid is the king of second chances (and third, and fourth), and it seems the Chiefs coach has every intention of sticking by Rashee Rice as the receiver deals with another off-field incident.

Rice is serving 30 days in jail after testing positive for marijuana and violating his parole, and it’s complicating his recovery from a recent clean-up procedure on his knee. But Reid spoke of Rice as if he is still very much in Kansas City’s plans.

“We’re moving forward, just normal as we go here,” Reid said Thursday. “When he gets back, we’ve got to get him caught up and doing what he needs to do. And then, make sure he gets it. It’s not an easy thing he’s going through. Life lessons are important, but we’re all given chances to learn, and so he’s in that position now.”

The Chiefs still need another receiver even as they stand by Rice. They are an obvious landing spot for a veteran receiver, with Diggs and Samuel at the top of the list.

Rams coach Sean McVay initially gave the impression he wasn’t too thrilled with the selection of quarterback Ty Simpson with the No. 13 pick, in part because he was worried about how it would affect veteran Matthew Stafford. New Englanders remember Tom Brady wasn’t too excited to see the Patriots draft Jimmy Garoppolo.

But give Stafford credit, he is saying all the right things about Simpson and embracing the mentor role.

“I’m in there with him in the meeting room, on the practice field, trying to share as much knowledge as I can. I was a big fan of Ty when he was playing at Alabama,” Stafford, who went to Georgia, told ESPN’s Pat McAfee. “I sent him a text after he got drafted and said, ‘Really enjoyed watching you play, just that you were in the wrong jersey.’”

The Ravens have done a great job of giving Lamar Jackson ownership of the locker room. They allowed him to participate in coaching interviews, and the quarterback has responded by participating in voluntary offseason practices for the first time in years.

“I have to get the terminology down. Everything is new, so I had to be here,” Jackson said. “It’s smooth. I love it. Just know that I love it, and everyone else loves it.”

Von Miller had nine sacks last year for the Commanders, the outside linebacker’s most since 2021, and has been practically begging the Broncos to bring him back to finish his career. “I lobby publicly, I lobby privately,” Miller said. “At 37 years old I can still roll out of bed and rush the quarterback. I’m still a great guy in the locker room. I bring great energy, and I’m going to make sure everybody is ready to go.” … Mac Jones wanted a trade from the 49ers to be a starter elsewhere. Instead, no market developed, and San Francisco ended up giving the backup quarterback a raise in 2026, from $3.25 million to $3.55 million … The defending Super Bowl champions have their motto for 2026. “We’re using the term, we want to ‘run it forward,’ meaning our process and who we are,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said … The Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy said there is “no awkwardness” with fellow quarterback Kyler Murray, which means there’s probably plenty of awkwardness. Murray appears to be the clear leader for the starting job … Suspended Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby has until June 22 to apply for the NFL’s supplemental draft, which takes place in July. Sorsby likely would be the first player taken since 2019, and could be worth a second- or third-round pick, though his gambling issues might dampen his value … Jaxson Dart violated the No. 1 rule — never talk politics at the dinner table. For a young quarterback trying to prove himself and win over his Giants teammates, Dart couldn’t have caused a bigger distraction by appearing at a recent rally for President Trump. It was extremely naïve or callous to inject himself into a divisive political setting, and linebacker Abdul Carter surely wasn’t the only teammate upset by Dart’s actions … It might get a little awkward at the next Fox Sports family retreat. Greg Olsen, the network’s No. 2 analyst, recently won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Personality/Event Analyst, beating out the guy who replaced him as No. 1, Tom Brady. It’s only a matter of time before another network poaches Olsen and makes him a premium announcer again.

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