The turf at Levi's Stadium last night for Super Bowl 50 was "less than perfect, a bit slick and divot-ish," and could serve as a "demerit for the Bay Area in its quest to land a spot in the league’s Super Bowl rotation," according to Scott Ostler of the S.F. CHRONICLE (2/8). In S.F., Katie Dowd noted not even eight minutes into the second quarter, the turf "was causing enough problems that CBS reported that players ... were switching their cleats." Several players "slipped on the turf and sizable divots could be seen all over the field." The problems "reportedly arose before the game even started," as groundskeepers were seen "picking up chunks of grass" in the early afternoon (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/8). Broncos S T.J. Ward: "That grass was so slippery. I kept slipping." Also, in S.F., Ann Killion notes the field was installed by the NFL on Jan. 11, "specifically for the game, and was babied for weeks, but the problems persist" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/8). Broncos CB Aqib Talib said, "The footing on the field was terrible. San Fran has to play eight games on that field so they better do something to get it fixed" (AP, 2/8). In San Jose, Jimmy Durkin noted as the first half ended, a crew of workers "rushed to the field to begin picking up divots of grass before the stages went down for the halftime show." However, with "hundreds of stage rushers stomping on the field and stages set up in the middle of the turf, there didn't seem to be any problems in the second half -- a sign that players' cleats were more to blame than the surface" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/8).
I'M THE TAXMAN: A S.F. CHRONICLE editorial stated Levi's Stadium showed the NFL that it "really is possible to finance a new venue without a huge taxpayer subsidy." That lesson "could not be more timely," as NFL owners just gave the Rams, Chargers and Raiders "permission to relocate their franchises in part because the public contribution for new stadiums in those markets was deemed insufficient" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/7).
