Money Or Players’ Safety – Do The NFL Stakeholders Care One Bit About Playing Surfaces?

The New York Jets had high hopes when they signed 4x NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers over from the Green Bay Packers. They thought Rodgers would help them turn around their fortunes. But we will never know. Just four plays into their season opener game against the Buffalo Bills, Rodgers crashed to the ground and tore his Achilles. And now he has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. At best, he can hope to be back before the playoffs, but it would be too late by then. 

For the Bills, their London outing will be remembered as a major blow. Not because of their 20-25 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but because of who they lost. At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Taron Johnson almost met with a similar fate when his foot got stuck on the ground and he fell. Johnson urged the need for a grass turf. However, the costs and maintenance involved might be a reason for the step that is yet to be taken. Interestingly, the NFL president and NFLPA executive director have acknowledged the need for a change. 

The pros of an NFL grass field outweigh the cons

The Buffalo Bills Cornerback Taron Johnson may have avoided a serious injury, but he had a reasonable demand to make. “Turf is terrible,” Johnson said after the London game. “Take that turf out, especially that one. I’d rather play on grass. I’m sure 90 to 100 percent of the players in the NFL would rather play on grass. I don’t know why we’re playing on stuff like that. There were injuries on the field today, [and] some [were] really bad. I feel like the turf has something to do with it.” In September, the NFL Players Association too asked the league to switch all its fields to natural grass, calling it “the easiest decision the NFL can make.

 Safe Healthy Playing Fields Inc. conducted a brilliant analysis of the costs involved, both in terms of dollars and manpower, in installing and maintaining the two types of fields. And the results couldn’t be more incriminating for the NFL. Grass turfs need constant upkeep after games. Harsh weather can also easily affect them. They turn muddy during rains, dry out during summers, and turn mushy during snowfall.

Artificial turf is free from all these disadvantages. The cost of equipment for maintaining artificial turf ranges from $23,250-$127,00, while the number is almost double for grass at $42,800-$205,500. Artificial turf has annual maintenance charges of $39,220, while for grass it is $48,960. The total man hours for artificial turf maintenance is 355 hours, while for grass it is almost 2.5x at 870 hours.

Now that the NFL has set an ambitious goal of raking in revenues of $25 billion by 2027, they want to save every dollar that they can. Last year they collected $19 billion in revenues. No wonder only 16 team stadiums have grass turf. 14 have artificial, while the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers have a hybrid turf. The Bills are the latest to make their gourds safer for players. Highmark Stadium, opened in 1973, had an artificial turf, but they’re all set to inaugurate a new stadium with grass turf in 2026. Is this just a one-off incident or is the NFL finally going to choose player safety over money and maintenance?

It seems that the NFL is finally ready to listen to players

Is there any empirical evidence to show that grass turf is safer for players? NFLPA president J. C. Tretter wrote an entire essay outlining just how much grass can be safer than artificial turf. He analyzed data from a health analytics company, IQVIA, and stated this: “Now, 10 of the previous 11 years show the same exact thing — grass is a significantly safer surface than turf.” After Rodger’s injury, NFLPA executive director, Lloyd Howell, took to X to share his statement urging the NFL to ban artificial turf in all stadiums. It seems his pleas have finally reached the league’s administration.

The NFL recently announced that it is open to receiving submissions on how it can better its playing surfaces. Not only that, it’s even offering monetary rewards as well. The name of the challenge is ‘HealthTECH Challenge I’. It is open to entries from new ventures and companies from outside the surface industry. This includes representatives of academic institutions, design houses, and other entities that specialize in engineering, advanced manufacturing, and material science. “The challenge will provide up to $100,000 to entrants with ideas that further improve the safety and consistency of playing surfaces.”

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However, it may be some time, even years, before the entries are received, the winner is selected, and changes implemented. Till then, the players are at the mercy of the ground beneath their feet. Nothing can be more hurtful for a player, his team, and their fans than losing multiple games to a non-contact injury. The grass is a mandatory surface for soccer. FIFA has asked the host countries of America, Mexico, and Canada, that games can only be held on grass turfs. It’s time for the NFL to take a leaf out of FIFA’s playbook. As football star player Zlatan Ibrahimovic said, “I don’t know. The risk is higher on the turf and I tried to play on the turf in Portland, and I felt very bad.”

Editorial Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of EssentiallySports. 

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