LAS VEGAS-. The owner of the Las Vegas Raiders Mark Davis He called his team’s new home the “Death Star” in 2020 — and the name stuck. Allegiant Stadium, with its black façade, really resembles the space station from the movies. Star Wars and that is capable of destroying planets.
The futuristic stadium will be the main stage on February 11 when the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers meet in the first Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
And like the unique city that surrounds it, the stadium has some unique features that set it apart from other NFL stadiums. Among the most notable is the field.
Because the Raiders insist on playing on grass, even in the dome, the field is almost always outside in the sun’s rays and is rolled up and brought inside for games. The Arizona Cardinals’ stadium, the former site of the Super Bowl, uses a similar transfer system.
The NFL takes on the task of maintaining the field before the Super Bowl and the surface is closely monitored. Nobody wants a repeat of what happened last year in Glendale when players slipped on the grass in the Super Bowl that the Chiefs won 38-35 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“This surface has been nurtured from the time the grass was planted to the Super Bowl,” said Jeff Miller, NFL vice president of communications. “Its maintenance is carried out with a series of tools and metrics… Our field management expert has been on this for weeks and has visited the field frequently and will do so in the next two weeks in anticipation of the game.”
Former NFL outfielder George Toma criticized the field’s maintenance last year, but expressed confidence in new director Nick Pappas.
“You will see it now in Las Vegas, they will have the best field in history,” Toma warned.
Other features:
—Large sliding lanai doors facing the Las Vegas Strip that can be opened to have an outdoor element, although they have remained closed during the Raiders games despite the temperature dropping.
—The Al Davis Memorial Torch with a circular base. An electric torch that a celebrity or important person lights before each Raiders game.
—In front of the torch, in an area above the end zone seats, a 19-piece band plays before games and during timeouts. Sometimes they are joined by other artists like Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Jospeh “Rev Run” at halftime.
—Every stadium has a VIP area, but Allegiant has some of the most exclusive seats on the field near the north end zone. There are 29 cabins for 15 people each.
FOUNTAIN: AP
