"When Santa Clara hosted the Super Bowl in 2016, the Youth Soccer Park next to Levi's Stadium became the center of a fierce legal battle between soccer parents, the city and the league. At the time, the NFL intended to transform the soccer fields into a "media village" as part of a longtime agreement with Santa Clara that allowed them to utilize city-owned facilities around the stadium."
"But just days before the league was set to begin preparations for the Big Game, the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League took the matter to court, unsuccessfully seeking to block the takeover. The reason? The local soccer community feared that the heavy foot traffic, tents and other equipment brought in to transform the pitch into a media hub would destroy the fields and displace hundreds of youth soccer players who had nowhere else to play."
""We approached this with eyes wide open and are really happy to report that the proposal ... does not create any damage to the Youth Soccer Park and in fact has a community benefit attached to it of over $1.2 million," City Manager Jovan Grogan said at Tuesday's Santa Clara City Council meeting. The council unanimously approved the terms of the agreement."
The Youth Soccer Park includes three fields—two natural grass and one artificial turf—and served as the focus of a legal battle during the 2016 Super Bowl when the NFL sought to convert fields into a media village. The city and league reached a new agreement granting the NFL exclusive access from Jan. 5 to Feb. 22, with plans to use and protect the artificial turf field as the media hub. The city reports the proposal prevents damage, adds protective covering, provides a community benefit exceeding $1.2 million, and aims to avoid another legal showdown.
Read at The Mercury News
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