How Fenway Park Shifts Baseball Diamond To Football Gridiron

Fenway Park is used to a central identity as the home of the Boston Red Sox.

Throughout its history, even in recent years, several other games and events have found their way to one of the most iconic stadiums in America.

From concerts to NHL Winter Classics, Fenway Park has a diverse resume of events that continues to grow, including the Wasabi Fenway Bowl. After missing the first two installments, the 2022 game came to Boston with the Louisville Cardinals defeating the Cincinnati Bearcats.

This season, the Boston College Eagles will play close to home as they battle the Southern Methodist Mustangs.

Among several preparations to watch leading up to kickoff is the actual transformation of the playing surface. Going from a baseball diamond to a sodded football field is a complex yet fascinating process.

“That transformation start to finish is a fun process to see,” Fenway Park director of grounds David Mellor told NESN.com. “Just a big shoutout to everyone involved in helping us do that.”

The process of laying out the 100-yard field takes a massive collaboration with outside vendors for materials, the Fenway Park grounds crew and several more contributors to prepare the field.

“It takes a lot of teamwork and a lot of planning,” Mellor explained. “I’m very fortunate to have great support there. … There’s just a lot of people that are involved in putting this all together. It’s a lot of extensive planning and attention to detail. Safety and playability are our first priorities. We start after the baseball season is over. The mound comes out. (On) the infield skin, we put down a filter fabric so that the sod doesn’t cross-contaminate that clay. The warning track is graded. The sod matches that. The big roll of sod comes in.”

Mellor believes that the process of field preparation across all Fenway events has improved over time through enhanced technology and decades of experience to call upon.

“Through the years, technology gets better,” Mellor added. “Same with groundskeeping.”

Putting on several sports and events at an outdoor venue is a challenge within itself. Unlike many other regions, the constantly changing weather patterns of New England add to Fenway Park’s planning needs for Mellor and his crew, including the television weather team at Boston 25.

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“I think one of the biggest challenges we face with everything going on at Fenway is the New England weather,” Mellor noted. “New England weather is always changing. We’re fortunate, again, that we have a lot of teamwork involved. Technology has changed where we have weather apps. We can look at that, but we certainly can’t decipher that. I’m not a meteorologist, nor are my colleagues.”

With the latest installment of college football at Fenway Park, Mellor believes fans should be in for another unique experience.

“I think they can look forward to an exciting game,” Mellor said. “We’re looking forward to that, too. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Boston College and Southern Methodist kickoff at Fenway Park on Dec. 28 at 11 a.m. ET.