49ers sparkling new Levi's Stadium sees field fail, new grass goes in

SANTA CLARA -- When the 49ers were getting ready to open their immaculate new $1.3 billion stadium, coach Jim Harbaugh compared the team's new field to the fairways at the famed golf course where the Masters is played. The team and its partners billed the new grass as a super-resistant strain capable of withstanding the pounding of 300-pound lineman, saying divots would be "virtually nonexistent."

But as it turns out, the $1.4 million playing field installed four months ago could not even withstand its first week of NFL football.

The team ripped up the grass running down the middle of the stadium and began installing a new playing surface on Thursday, a day after Harbaugh cut short a public practice at the stadium, disappointing 10,000 fans in attendance.

The field was beat up -- with some players falling Wednesday -- following the Niners first game at the stadium three days prior, a preseason exhibition against the Denver Broncos. The team apologized to fans who made the trip to the training camp session and said the field would be ready for Sunday's preseason game against the San Diego Chargers, but declined to comment further.

"That shouldn't happen. One game shouldn't have caused it to fall apart," said Kevin Morris, executive director of the National Turf Grass Evaluation Program, a leading nonprofit that tests grasses. "It's a problem for the team for sure."

The thick-cut sod the team is installing is meant as a temporary fix. It is used occasionally at other sports stadiums that are beat up at the end of a season, or following a concert, but cannot generate the deep roots needed for the field to withstand a beating long term.

It's unclear how the team will sod the field for its regular-season opener, a Sept. 14 primetime game against the Chicago Bears on national TV, or if the sand base contributed to the issues.

It's not the first problem with the field. Last month, trucks carrying heavy equipment for a black-tie VIP gala featuring a John Legend concert damaged part of the area near the south end zone. At the time, Niners executives brushed off the damage and said it would be fixed quickly. But this week, more than a month after the concert, there was still a large brown stain behind and inside part of the end zone.

On Wednesday, fans at the third and final free Levi's Stadium practice were confused when it was called off 45 minutes in, after wide receivers Stevie Johnson and Bruce Ellington and several other players slipped and created new divots. Coaches had been digging into the divots that had been replaced on the field with patches of sod, and team executives huddled on the field to examine its condition, which some fans weren't exactly impressed with.

"Once we sat down in our seats, I kind of chuckled -- look at this great stadium, and the money spent, and look how crappy the field is," said Rick Randall, 48, of Manteca, who was at Wednesday's practice. "I was kind of expecting nice, green lush grass. It didn't look much better than Candlestick."

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49ers sparkling new Levi's Stadium sees field fail, new grass goes in