NFL ‘would have to pay a hefty $12MILLION to convert all its artificial fields to grass’… as league faces growing clamor from players to switch all stadiums to natural surfaces
- Players have increasingly spoken out about artificial surfaces in the NFL
- The NFLPA says ‘slit-film’ turf leads to more injuries, although the NFL disagrees
- There are 14 stadiums that use artificial playing surface, including MetLife Stadium
- But the league would face a significant investment to change fields to grass
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The NFL would reportedly have to pay nearly $12 million to convert all of its artificial fields to grass, as players continue to advocate for the change.
Fourteen fields (and 16 teams) teams currently use an artificial playing surface at their stadium, and a growing chorus of players have voiced their preference for grass.
According to Front Office Sports, implementing that change would be quite expensive for the league – totaling a tab of $11.9m.
Giants receiver Sterling Shepard is carted off with an ACL injury in September of this year
The numbers break down to $500,000 towards the demolition, new rock underlayment and and irrigation systems of each field.
A further $350,000 would be needed in each case for ‘lay-and-play sod,’ FOS said.
While the change would require the league to invest a lot of time and money, it would obviously be well-received by players.
In November, the Players Association (NFLPA) expressed concerns over the disproportionate amount of injuries happening on an artificial surface called ‘slit-film turf’ as compared to grass.
The Giants and Jets are two of the 16 teams that use an artificial playing surface
And players called for the ‘Immediate Replacement and Ban of all Slit Film Turf,’ which is used by seven teams, including the Giants and Jets at MetLife Stadium.
‘I do think it’s time to go all grass throughout the league,’ Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told reporters last month.
‘I think you would see less of these noncontact injuries that we see on some of the surfaces, and I think that it’d be a good step in the right direction towards player safety to make the requirement for every field to be grass.’
‘No one likes the turf,’ Ravens running back JK Dobbins said in October. As the older guys would say, like, “Man, it hurts my body.” Maybe that’s true. Maybe I’ll start feeling that as I continue on in my career. But it is terrible.’
NFLPA president JC Trotter added in November: ‘The NFL and its experts have agreed with this data and acknowledge that the slit-film field is less safe,’ he said in a statement.
Aaron Rodgers has been very outspoken about his dislike for artificial playing surfaces
‘The injuries on slit film are completely avoidable – both the NFL and NFLPA experts agree on the data – and yet the NFL will not protect players from a subpar surface.’
In particular, there have been a lot of complaints about the MetLife playing surface, where many players have suffered non-contact injuries.
Giants wide receivers Wandale Robinson and Sterling Shepard have both suffered torn ACLs this season, while the visiting Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas had the same injury when playing for the Jets in 2020.
Jimmy Garoppolo sustained a high-ankle sprain in that game, while running backs Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman also hurt their knees.
The Chicago Bears are among the teams that provide normal grass for their games
However, NFL data obtained by ESPN in November says ‘the recent rate of non-contact injuries to the knee, ankle and foot is roughly the same on natural and artificial playing surfaces.’
Regardless, it’s clear where most players lie on the matter, although Rodgers is not bullish on the prospects of any changes occurring.
‘No, honestly, I don’t have a lot of confidence when it comes to the league making that decision without some sort of big vote and gripes from certain owners who don’t want to spend the money,’ he said.
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