NFL's international playbook calls for vigilance on field quality, from Sao Paulo to Bernabeu

LONDON (AP) — Nick Pappas rattles off the types of field surfaces at international stadiums the way a quarterback calls plays in the huddle.

Carpet hybrid ryegrass at Croke Park in Dublin. Stitched hybrid bluegrass at Olympiastadion in Berlin. Stitched hybrid ryegrass at Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. Those three are the new host cities this season on the NFL’s busy international calendar.

As the NFL's field director, it’s Pappas’ job to make sure the international playing surfaces meet league standards. Expanding American football around the world presents some challenges.

“Our athletes are very unique in the fact that they’re bigger and stronger and faster than most athletes,” Pappas said.

And when the likes of 300-pound linemen plant their feet and smash into each other for three hours on a Sunday, it can take a toll on a surface intended for soccer.

“So, the needs of the surface drastically increase when compared to soccer, where players are moving in space, moving in the open,” Pappas said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The style of game that they play is a little bit less demanding on the field.”

Here's some more to know about the international fields:

Most European fields use cold-season grass, which is either ryegrass or bluegrass, or a blend of the two, Pappas said. Warm-season Bermuda grass is utilized at most of the natural-grass NFL facilities in the U.S.

Bermuda grass is stronger and provides more stability.

“Typical ryegrass and bluegrass can be a little bit more challenging, which is why we end up relying more on hybrid fields when we go internationally, and that’s already typically what’s being used by those locations,” said Pappas, who started overseeing the international fields in the 2022 season.

The hybrid versions still are mostly natural grass but reinforced with synthetic fibers comprising up to 7% of the surface, Pappas said.

Croke Park's “carpet” hybrid surface was rolled into place more than three weeks before the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 in Ireland’s first regular-season NFL game. Wembley Stadium, where the Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, uses the same type of surface.

At the Bernabeu, the synthetic fibers are stitched into the grass.

“A machine comes in and drives fibers about 7 inches down into the ground, and those fibers stick all the way up to the canopy of grass," he said. "Like all the hybrid systems, that’s what is providing a lot of the traction and stabilization.”

The stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the NFL has held two games, also uses a stitched system, Pappas added.

On Nov. 16 in Spain's first NFL game, the Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders will play on the same hybrid-grass surface that Kylian Mbappé and his Real Madrid teammates do.

"Correct, that exact surface,” Pappas said.

Early in its Bernabeu renovation, Real Madrid had outlined a plan similar to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a retractable grass field making way for a synthetic one to be used for American football.

Bernabeu’s multi-panel pitch is preserved underground.

“It’s all climate-controlled, and then they bring that field out when they are ready to play on it,” Pappas said.

“The Bernabeu, because they had not designed the stadium in conjunction with us, like Tottenham did — and didn’t build it specifically for NFL, there was still a lot to figure out when we started determining where we were going to play in Spain.”

Soccer pitches are shorter than what's needed for the NFL, so they had to be sure there was enough room.

“Ultimately, we landed on being able to utilize their technologies and then build off of that versus having to just do a full brand-new artificial field in there,” Pappas said.

At Olympiastadion in Berlin, a stitched hybrid bluegrass field was installed this summer. The Indianapolis Colts face the Atlanta Falcons there on Nov. 9.

In 2018, the NFL moved a game out of Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on short notice back to the U.S. because of poor field conditions.

Germany's first-ever regular-season game was a big success three years ago. Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-16 at Allianz Arena in Munich. The only downside? The slippery field.

The home stadium of Bayern Munich had a 100% natural grass field at that time. One Seattle player complained about flying 10 hours to play on a “terrible” field. Bucs coach Todd Bowles said it was “real slippery.” The next summer, Bayern Munich switched to a hybrid field.

“We’ve continued to learn that it’s important for us to make some of the changes we believe are necessary on the front end to ensure the quality on the back end,” Pappas said.

The NFL pushed to get a hybrid field for its two games at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt in 2023.

Postgame at Croke Park, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said the field was “pristine." Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson described the grass as “a little slippery.”

Pappas, who also works on the Super Bowl field each season, knows criticism is part of the job.

“I’ve taken the good and the bad on the broadcast side. I’ve seen good fields perform really well, and I’ve seen fields perform not as well,” he said.

"Every single game that I do is an opportunity to learn something, and we take something new away from it and it makes us better for the next one."

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NFL field director, Nick Pappas poses for a photo before the NFL football game between the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in London. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

NFL field director, Nick Pappas poses for a photo before the NFL football game between the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in London. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

FILE - The Olympic Stadium is photographed in Berlin, Germany, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic state.

Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

Iran’s crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday and some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” travel to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.

Iran previously closed its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June.

Here is the latest:

“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”

Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.

Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.

Iranians have been largely absent from an annual pilgrimage to Baghdad, Iraq, to commemorate the death of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, one of the twelve Shiite imams.

Many Iranian pilgrims typically make the journey every year for the annual religious rituals.

Streets across Baghdad were crowded with pilgrims Thursday. Most had arrived on foot from central and southern provinces of Iraq, heading toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad,

Adel Zaidan, who owns a hotel near the shrine, said the number of Iranian visitors this year compared to previous years was very small. Other residents agreed.

“This visit is different from previous ones. It lacks the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims, especially in terms of providing food and accommodation,” said Haider Al-Obaidi.

Europe’s largest airline group said Thursday it would halt night flights to and from Tel Aviv and Jordan's capital Amman for five days, citing security concerns as fears grow that unrest in Iran could spiral into wider regional violence.

Lufthansa — which operates Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said flights would run only during daytime hours from Thursday through Monday “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” It said the change would ensure its staff — which includes unionized cabin crews and pilots -- would not be required to stay overnight in the region.

The airline group also said its planes would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, key corridors for air travel between the Middle East and Asia.

Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for several hours early Thursday without explanation.

A spokesperson for Israel’s Airport Authority, which oversees Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was operating as usual.

Iranian state media has denied claims that a young man arrested during Iran’s recent protests was condemned to death. The statement from Iran’s judicial authorities on Thursday contradicted what it said were “opposition media abroad” which claimed the young man had been quickly sentenced to death during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.

State television didn’t immediately give any details beyond his name, Erfan Soltani. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday that his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.

“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.

“Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information – and that right is currently being brutally repressed,” he said.

Peters said his government had expressed serious concerns to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington.

A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)