The Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in the US. But a small youth soccer league, with fields close to the site where this year’s game will be hosted, is refusing to allow the sporting behemoth to disrupt its season.

It is a legal battle over sporting turf pitting the National Football League, America’s wealthiest sports league, against the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League, which relies on parents and volunteer coaches to stay afloat.

A lawsuit brought by the youth soccer league is challenging the NFL’s attempt to commandeer the soccer field and replace it with a media site for next month’s Super Bowl 50.

It’s a project that parents and players in the soccer league say will destroy the park and disrupt youth athletics this year.



After a short hearing in San Jose, Santa Clara County superior court Judge Joseph Huber on Tuesday declined to issue a temporary restraining order against the NFL, which would have blocked construction on the Santa Clara youth soccer park while the lawsuit moves forward.

The blow to the nonprofit comes one day after the NFL brought out large trucks with cement blocks and began digging holes in the city-owned soccer field, which is adjacent to Levi’s Stadium.

“It’s really upsetting because we’ve all been playing there for quite some time,” said Monica Hrncir, a 16-year-old soccer player. Hrncir, who has played in the youth league since she was six, said the NFL’s project has already ruined the grass and that there are no adequate parks nearby.

“This is heartbreaking,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”

The youth league originally sued the city last week in attempt to block the NFL. The youth league said that the city’s new contract with the NFL to use the field – an agreement that was finalized on Christmas Eve, according to the suit – violated the municipality’s permit with the local league.

NFL work begins at the Santa Clara youth soccer park. Photograph: Courtesy of Carrie Amaya

The Santa Clara league’s attorney added the NFL to the lawsuit after it took over the site. The soccer field serves 6,000 children, including 1,500 from the Santa Clara league, the suit says. Local families are hoping that the NFL – which is reportedly worth $63bn – finds an alternative site for journalists, media production and security operations for the Super Bowl.

The collision played out inside the courtroom on Tuesday.

A group of parents and coaches – many of whom took off work to attend the hearing – sat on one side of the courtroom across from a group of well-dressed NFL lawyers.

“The NFL obviously is gonna have greater resources, but I’m hoping the law prevails,” said Demitri Cacoyannis, a youth-league coach.

Lisa Gillmor, a Santa Clara city council member who attended the hearing, said she lost faith in the NFL. “It’s all about making money and it’s not about the community,” she said.

Once the hearing was over, coaches lamented that the NFL’s construction would not only hurt the grass field but could jeopardize scholarship opportunities for students. Gabe Foo, a volunteer coach and father of two former league players, said that the games provide high schoolers with crucial exposure to college coaches looking to recruit.

Foo said some players have become the first in their families to attend college with the help of soccer scholarships. “We’re not trying to stop the Super Bowl ... we’re just passionate about protecting our kids,” he said.

The city has given the league access to another field that is significantly smaller and unavailable on weekends, Foo said. NFL and city spokespeople said the NFL will replace the Santa Clara field and fix any damage after the Super Bowl.

But coaches said they aren’t convinced that it would be salvageable and worry that officials will fail to return the park in a timely fashion. Hundreds of students will be impacted if the courts do not stop the plan, the suit alleges.

Carrie Amaya, whose daughter plays in the soccer league, was the first to show up to the hearing. She was shocked that the NFL began work on Monday before the court even held the hearing. “It’s just a callous disregard,” she said.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email that the league is working to minimize its impact on the field, will place all equipment on top of plastic and will limit vehicle access to the area. City spokeswoman Jennifer Yamaguma declined to comment on the lawsuit but said city officials are working with the Super Bowl host committee to identify additional replacement fields for the soccer league.