GLENDALE, ARIZ. - It started out as a typical media circus.

There was the obligatory crowd of reporters and photographers yesterday, a sea of them flowing toward players for the New England Patriots and New York Giants, listening in for tidbits that would make for that good Super Bowl story.

When Tom Brady took the podium, smiling and handsome as ever, the waves of media paid particular attention as they always do, perhaps hoping for more information about his ankle injury or looking for that good sound bite that makes bulletin board material for the opposing team.

But then came the unusual question of the day. A female Mexican reporter who had donned a wedding gown proposed to Brady. He turned down the request.

The venue for the proposal and the annual pre-Super Bowl media day - the University of Phoenix Stadium where the Pats and Giants play Sunday - is in some ways as unique as the proposal.

The place is big, seating 73,000 compared to the Patriots' modern Gillette Stadium home, which has a capacity of 68,756. But what sets it apart from other stadiums in North America is its moveable playing field.

The playing field, which consists of a type of grass from Bermuda called Tifway 4, is on a tray that is 234 feet wide by 400 feet long, and weighs some 12 million pounds. It can be rolled in and out of the cavernous facility to allow the grass to grow.

The stadium was also designed with a retractable roof not to keep rain out but to block the sometimes oppressive Arizona sun, which could turn the stadium crowd into a sweltering sweaty mess. Designers built the roof to block the sun's rays on hot days and open up on comfortable days, said Scott Norton, director of marketing and public relations for the stadium. The roof can be closed in 15 minutes.

But the management leaves the roof open this time of year, and sunlight poured onto the field during yesterday's media day.

"It's a very open, airy feel," Norton said while standing several rows above the hordes of reporters and photographers below.

The $455 million building has 37 concession stands, 438 cash registers and 77 restrooms. It took about 600 workers per day laboring for 36 months to build the facility.

Tickets to Sunday's matchup are selling for thousands of dollars. Anyone lucky enough to buy a ticket is going to pay top dollar at the game, too.

Draft beers will sell for $10 each. But the beer doubles as a souvenir, because it comes in a commemorative Super Bowl XLII cup. The cup also comes with soda, which will cost $7, and popcorn comes in a commemorative bag and costs $9. Hamburgers and cheeseburgers cost $8, and hot dogs and french fries go for $7.

Fans will likely get "goodie bags" filled with special gifts when they enter the stadium on game day, Norton said. He didn't know what will be in the bags, he said.

The stadium was immaculate yesterday. The plastic seats are red and gray, and Patriots and Giants logos have been painted around the facility. Aside from the primping that work crews have given it to prepare for the country's biggest sporting event, the stadium is only 2 years old.

The stadium, owned by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, opened in 2006. Before that, the Arizona Cardinals football team played at Arizona State University. The staff hope to leave a nice impression on the world Sunday, because they hope to join the rotation of venues that host the Super Bowl every five or six years. They also want to hold other huge gatherings, Norton said.

The stadium is in negotiations to hold World Wrestling Entertainment's WrestleMania in 2010, Norton said.

"We feel the infrastructure here, the layout, the warm climate, is conducive to mega events," he said. "We're really looking to showcase the building."