Super Bowl 60 brings the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks together again in a high-stakes rematch of one of the NFL’s most memorable title games. With the matchup set, attention now turns to what players and fans can expect from Levi’s Stadium.
Grass Surface Adds Strategic Layer to Super Bowl
Levi’s Stadium features a natural grass surface. The field uses a hybrid Bermuda grass blend designed to handle heavy use and maintain stability during major events. The grounds crew typically reinforces or replaces the surface ahead of games of this magnitude to ensure consistent footing.
Grass fields are often preferred by players for comfort and injury reduction, and both teams could benefit from a surface that plays slower and softer than artificial turf. Interestingly, both the Patriots and Seahawks play their home games on turf, so the natural grass could present some challenges for both teams.
Dr. Guillem Gonzalez-Lomas, the Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone Health, spoke to PFSN about about this adjustment.
“Grass and turf might look similar from afar, but the devil is in the details. There is no question that they are two different playing surfaces, with their own unique biomechanical implications,” Dr. Gonzalez-Lomas told PFSN. “Ostensibly, if a player is used to turf, grass will feel different. That may affect their sense of ‘connection’ to the field. A lot of research has gone into comparing turf and grass injury rates, but whether or not those rates change if a singular game is played on a different surface is unclear.
“In theory, artificial turf is more uniform than grass, which can hide divots and surface inconsistencies. However, at the Super Bowl level, the grass is usually scrupulously maintained, making those terrain issues much less common. In fact, divots may allow the cleat to slide the leg out of a precarious position. Studies have shown that in the NFL, turf is associated with a higher lower-leg injury risk.
“The mechanism for this, however, is not totally clear. While turf may trap the cleat more firmly, leading to more torque across the leg joints, in practice, the evidence has been conflicting. Complicating matters further, field surface properties change at different temperatures, different cleats yield different biomechanical outcomes, athletes may play differently depending on the surface or they may even have different preconceived expectations of each surface.”
During the regular season, Seattle had the third-best defense in the NFL, according to PFSN’s Defense Impact (DEFi) Score. New England’s offense ranked second-best in the league, according to PFSN’s Offense Impact (OFFi) Score.
The Patriots also boast the No. 12-ranked defense in the league, while the Seahawks have the NFL’s ninth-ranked offense. Weather remains the biggest variable. Levi’s Stadium is an open-air venue with no roof, meaning weather conditions will remain a factor throughout the game.
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The stadium’s design includes open concourses and a sun-exposed bowl that can create noticeable temperature swings depending on kickoff time and cloud cover.
While Santa Clara’s February weather is generally mild, the open-air layout still allows for shifting breezes and temperature changes. Both teams will adjust as needed based on conditions at the 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
