Mylar would be the easiest . Clear coating would work also. PM me if you need some Mylar I have a 3 feet by 3 foot sheet I could send you some.

I would put Mylar down.

Then latter if you decide you want to clear coat the playfield, it is easily removed.

Even on playfields I've cleared, I still might put a piece of Mylar or Cliffy under a habittrail drop.

Wax it before putting Mylar down, even easier to remove down the road then.

You can buy sheets of Mylar at Marco.

Cut it, check its fit.

Stick it on starting on one side. Use a credit card to smoothly press it down.

Pop stubborn air bubbles with a pin.

It's tacky, but not crazy. Pulling it up is always some risk of pulling off paint. Freeze off old Mylar.

Yes the ball will wear through it, but probably never with home use.

Put new balls in every 6 months, if you don't already.

I recently acquired a beautiful Shadow with virtually no Sanctum wear. How would you guys recommend protecting the area?

Sell-n it !!! ,,

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I would put down some static cling vinyl there gweempose. It can be easily removed from clear coated playfields without a sticky mess being left behind and protects similarly to mylar.

Also tighten and glue down the magnet to the mount so it doesn't vibrate and thus wiggle the ball around during the cycle.

Clear shelf paper is awesome for this application. It doesn't have the strength of adhesive as mylar, and can be pulled later with no damage. I have been using it for years in high traffic areas, and it works great. If you are really concerned, as others have mentioned, you can throw a light layer of wax underneath first.

I cleaned... (as best I could before I started to notice chips of area coming up), then waxed and finally laid down a piece of mylar over my sanctum (<---sounds naughty lol) last night. Hopefully it'll provide the protection I need for years to come.