NFL groundskeeper George Toma at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ on Tuesday during Super Bowl week. Photos of Toma for this story: Jeff Goulding/LVSportsBiz.com

Super Bowl ‘Sodfather’ George Toma Regales LVSportsBiz With Stories Of Sod Before Super Bowl 57 In Phoenix

February 7, 2023February 9, 2023 Alan Snel George Toma

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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Jeff Goulding

GLENDALE, Arizona — George Toma, the famed 94-year-old “Sodfather,” was holding court (or field) on the turf at Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium Tuesday morning.

“This is the second best field for a Super Bowl. The best field was Super Bowl 41 in the rain between the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts” at former Dolphin Stadium at Miami Gardens in 2007, Toma explained.

Toma was full of joy. He was strolling on the retractable turf at the retractable domed stadium in Glendale, home to a cluster of sports venues like the former arena of the NHL Arizona Coyotes a half-hour outside Phoenix.

And he was regaling reporters with stories of sod.

LVSportsBiz.com checked out the playing field for the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs this morning.

Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.

July 5, 2021

LVSPORTSBIZ.COM, launched June 2017: We are a digital magazine providing market-leading news, intelligence, enterprise and breaking info on Las Vegas’ sports/stadium industry. Our stories are quoted nationally and we set the sportsbiz news agenda in Las Vegas. Publisher Alan Snel has reported on the business of sports and stadiums in Denver, South Florida, Seattle and Tampa besides Las Vegas and is considered a national authority on the topic.

ADVERTISEMENT: Please shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip. Jay’s Market is the official presenting sponsor of LVSportBiz.com’s stories.

Hirings and Firings:

Las Vegas Aces President Nikki Fargas said the Aces are not renewing the contract of General Manager Natalie Williams. The Aces hired Williams as the team’s general manager in April 2022.

Vegas Golden Knights said the NHL club has signed defenseman Shea Theodore to a seven-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $7,425,000.

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To contact LVSportsBiz.com Publisher Alan Snel or buy his book, Bicycle Man: Life of Journeys, email him at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com

LVSportsBiz number for 2024: $1,178,161,041. That’s the amount of debt Las Vegas (actually, Clark County) owes for its public share of building the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium.