Pregame show: Behind the scenes of the Fargodome's conversion to football

• Nick Benson

Nick Benson, left, uses controls to raise the panel for the turf to move over the Fargodome floor. Vents push air under the turf to maintain a nonstop, even flow. Members of the Fargodome's conversion crew walk back and forth on the turf as it glides across the floor to prevent bubbles from forming. Carrie Snyder / The Forum

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• Photo gallery: Pre-game show

Fans at today's Bison homecoming game may be there for about four hours.

But it took up to 150 hours to prepare the Fargodome for the roughly 19,000 fans.

Rob Sobolik, general manager for the Fargodome, said it takes 350 to 400 employees to get ready for and execute an event as large as a North Dakota State University football game.

"This time of the year there are people here more hours than not," Sobolik said.

The to-do list over the course of a week includes rolling out the 80,000-pound turf, setting up parking cones, popping popcorn, prepping thousands of hot dogs and tearing ticket stubs.

Employees will meet hours before today's game to go over last-minute details.

"You can plan as much as you can, but as soon as the doors open, three-fourths of it gets thrown out the window," Sobolik said. "We do quite often sit back and ask 'How do we do it all?' "

Time-lapse: The Fargodome sets up for NDSU Bison Football

Video courtesy of Fargodome

Tags: bison football, north dakota state university, photo, photography, bison, ndsu, football, homecoming, fargo, fargodome