When the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks take the field at Levi’s Stadium this Sunday, the most underappreciated player will be under their cleats: the natural turf engineered to handle elite speed, weight, and impact—play after play.
That gridiron green is built and managed by a dedicated crew with specialized equipment, constant monitoring, and a playability standard that leaves little room for error. And while homeowners may be inspired to get their yard Super Bowl ready, turf expert Greg Phillips says it’s really an apples to oranges comparison.
“Take inspiration from it,” he tells Realtor.com®. “But don’t get disappointed if you can’t get there because there’s a reason.”
Phillips, an agronomist and longtime golf course superintendent with more than 35 years in turfgrass management, now runs a YouTube channel focused on practical, science-backed lawn care for homeowners. Ahead of Super Bowl LX, Realtor.com spoke with him about what really separates pro turfgrass from home lawns—and the biggest pro-level habits homeowners can realistically adopt.
The science behind professional, natural turfgrass
“There is a tremendous amount of maintenance and resources that an NFL stadium would have versus your typical homeowner,” says Phillips. And the biggest difference may be underground.
Pro turf is engineered from the soil up, beginning with a special blended mix in the root zone, typically 12 to 15 inches deep, built to prioritize drainage, air and oxygen exchange, and reduced compaction. Under that is an integrated drainage system designed to move water off the surface fast.
The NFL’s comprehensive, 91-page Surface Best Practices manual reflects that same obsession with water management, calling for the subgrade to be graded to a slope of at least 0.25% and no more than 1% so water keeps moving off the field.
Drainage is a make-or-break variable for natural turf, as viewers of Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Arizona will remember. The field was visibly wet, and players complained of the slippery conditions.
“It was like playing on a water park,” Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata said at the time.
The surface conditions turned into headline news after the game in a reminder that the stakes are just as high for the turf and the field crew that manages it as it is for the players.
In colder markets, some fields take their engineered systems even further. Phillips points to Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, where field crews use an underground heating system to keep the surface from freezing in Wisconsin’s frigid winters and extend how long grass can actively grow and recover.
Then there’s the manpower required to keep the surface playable.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, Levi’s Stadium has been tended to by both resident staff and the NFL’s own grounds crew. Nick Pappas, the field director for the NFL, oversaw the hometown turf being uprooted and replaced with 800,000 square feet of proprietary grass called “Ready Play,” engineered by West Coast Turf.
The blend is a Bermuda grass overseeded with ryegrass, designed to be played on within days of installation—but not without extensive testing first.
The League’s Mandatory Practices for NFL Playing Surfaces manual lays out 11 requirements and criteria the surface must meet, including impact testing completed within 72 hours and no later than 24 hours before kickoff, with rigorous benchmarks.
That kind of testing is essential, Phillips says, because “You have probably the strongest people on the planet, pushing against one another, and where they’re getting all their force is from the ground.”
Homeowners, meanwhile, are working from a different set of parameters and from a much different starting place. As Phillips puts it, with “home lawns you’re really dealing with what is there and what you have to work with.”
Pro secrets that homeowners can adopt
Still, if you’re chasing that TV lawn look, the first step is understanding what you’re actually comparing. Pro turf is engineered “literally from the soil up,” and according to Phillips, that’s exactly where homeowners should start, too.
Start from the ground up with a soil test
As such, Phillips says to begin your lawn’s glow-up with a soil test. The results will give you a baseline for your lawn’s pH and the nutrients already in the ground, so you’re not guessing (or applying the wrong product at the wrong time).
Prioritize the biggest levers first: Get pH into a healthy range, then address phosphorus and potassium based on what the test shows. When those fundamentals are corrected, your grass can absorb nutrients more efficiently, respond better to fertilizer, and generally perform closer to its potential.
Upgrade your grass genetics
After soil, he says the next biggest pro advantage homeowners can adopt is choosing a better grass itself—not only the species but the variety within it.
Agronomic researchers have spent decades running side-by-side trials to measure traits homeowners actually see and feel: color density, leaf texture, disease tolerance, and how different grasses handle local heat, drought, and other stressors.
Phillips says to check your local or regional university for a guide, and pick a species and variety that its research has proven in your climate. For example, the University of Arizona’s turfgrass maintenance guide recommends bermuda grass specifically for low-elevation desert lawns.
When you start with better-adapted genetics, the early wins are usually the most visible ones. Phillips says that you’ll notice richer color first, followed by better stress tolerance and a denser lawn.
Be smarter with fertilizer
Once your soil test gives you a plan, Phillips likes slow-release nitrogen for homeowners. He pointed to polymer-coated fertilizers because they feed when the plant can use it: “It is a temperature dependent release,” so “they will only feed when the grass is actually able to absorb that nitrogen.”
When mowing, aim for cleaner cuts
He drew a sharp line between homeowner mowing and pro mowing, which often uses reel mowers. Unlike a typical rotary mower, reel mowers cut “like a scissor,” which decreases the injury to the grass—more like “a very sharp scalpel versus a jagged knife,” Phillips says. That means faster healing and faster recovery.
And while the enthusiastic homeowner may take that as an invitation to invest in a new mower, Phillips cautions against getting ahead of yourself.
A brand new, professional-grade cartridge reel mower can run $12,000 or more, he says, although you may be able to snag a used one for $5,000 or so from your local golf course. Meanwhile, the type of mowers they use on professional fields can be over $50,000.
Keep expectations realistic
His last tip to homeowners is to not underestimate the resource difference. Pro fields are constantly rebuilding turf density, reseeding throughout the season, under the watchful eye of a dedicated staff.
“Some of these sports fields have anywhere from seven to 15 guys working there,” he says.
That’s why he says the goal shouldn’t be to copy a Super Bowl surface, but to borrow the principles that scale: soil testing, smart variety selection, and consistent mowing and feeding. While you can take inspiration from the pros, measure your success against what’s achievable on your homeowner budget and schedule.