Work on preparing the grass field for Sunday’s NFL game at Stade de France began months ago at an Italian farm near Milan.
asserted
Work → prepare → Milan
So when the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints run out of the tunnel, the hope is that the surface will feel much like those back home.
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surface → run → those
“A new field was installed (at Stade de France) about three weeks ago.
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field → instal → France
It was a field that was grown in Milan and then brought in by truck,” Nick Pappas, the NFL’s field director, said during a stadium tour on Thursday.
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Pappas → grow → Thursday
“(The grass is) harvested at the farm, gets loaded with a number of rolls per truck, and then those trucks make their way on about a 10-hour journey (to Paris).
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trucks → harvest → Paris
Work at the farm began six months ago, Pappas said, adding that once the prepared grass arrived for the game it needed to be stitched to make what is known as a hybrid field.
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what → begin → field
”(It is) a predominantly natural grass surface that then has an amount of artificial fibres inserted into the ground that provide stability, durability and overall performance,” said Pappas, who has overseen the NFL’s international games since 2022.
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who → have → 2022
The Stade de France normally hosts games for the French national teams in soccer and rugby, but an NFL-specific field needs to withstand a different kind of test.
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field → host → test
“Soccer is very much a ball-on-the-ground sport, so the smoothness of how a ball rolls on a soccer pitch is critical to their game play,” Pappas said.
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Pappas → roll → play
“For us, our athletes are typically larger, faster, applying more force on the ground.”
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athletes → apply → ground
Ensuring a field has good traction is therefore crucial.
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field → ensure → traction
“So athletes can run, cut, stop, move,” Pappas said.
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Pappas → run → ?
Another difference is that NFL fields are slightly longer, which meant the length of the Stade de France field had to be slightly extended.
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length → mean → field
Yellow field goal posts also had to be erected at each end.
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posts → have → end
“We worked closely with the stadium team, who support us on getting the concrete bases in the ground,” Pappas said.
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Pappas → work → ground
“Then my team shows up and actually builds the field goal posts.”
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team → show → posts
Pappas said the only snag has been some rainy Parisian weather, but even that was a very minor issue.
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that → say → ?
“We’re familiar with the climate.
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We → ’re → climate
Working out of North America we have climates of all kinds, all at the same time sometimes,” he said.
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he → work → time
“You can be playing in Miami, in Buffalo, in Seattle on the same day and have three completely different climates.
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You → play → climates
To accommodate a 53-man NFL team, the locker room used by the Saints needed an additional 25 lockers plus extra showers, along with a medical room and a cooling tub.
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room → accommodate → room
Since it’s officially a Saints home game they got to pick which dressing room they wanted: the one used by France’s soccer and rugby teams, or the one used by visiting sides.
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they → ’ → sides
They chose the visitors’ locker room.
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They → choose → room
In May, the NFL unveiled a record nine-match international schedule for 2026: starting with Melbourne in Australia and moving to Rio in Brazil, then swinging through Europe with stops in London, Paris, Madrid and Munich before ending in Mexico City.
uncertain
NFL → unveil → City
Jon Barker, head of international games and major events for the NFL, hopes Sunday’s game is the first of many in France.
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game → hop → France
“This is a long-term investment for us,” he said Thursday.
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he → say → us
We’re opening offices here and our plan is to play many, many games in France.”
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plan → open → France
State-owned France Televisions is covering Sunday’s game, while sports daily L’Equipe will have a free-to-air broadcast.
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L’Equipe → own → broadcast
Barker hopes this will help grow the sport.
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this → hop → sport
“It’s not just about coming in here for one day.
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It → ’ → day
It’s about our relationship with the fans that we already have in France and then starting to build new fans,” Barker added.
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Barker → ’ → fans
“We think it’s the right time now to bring our sport to a global stage and there’s no more important market than France.”
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it → think → France
“We want fans to experience what it would be like in the U.S. and be in an NFL stadium.
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it → want → stadium
But you’re also going to see influences of Paris, of France, in everything we do,” Barker said.
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Barker → go → everything
“You’re going to see it in our decorum, you’ll see it in our entertainment, you’ll see it in the way we present this game.”
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we → go → game
The Aporia
