NFL turf fight heats up as league challenges grass safety push
Players want natural grass after World Cup venue swaps, but the NFL says recent injury data does not show a clear turf problem.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
The NFL’s grass-versus-turf fight has a fresh flashpoint: players saw stadiums change over for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the NFL Players Association is using that as proof the league can do the same.
CBS Sports reported that the player-led push has grown louder after venues that normally use artificial turf installed natural grass for World Cup matches. The players’ argument is blunt: if stadiums can make it work for soccer, they can make it work for football.
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle said this summer that he believes about 90% of players would rather play on grass. According to CBS Sports, Kittle also said the league could make a full switch if owners cared enough to do it.
Half of NFL stadiums already use natural grass, according to CBS Sports. Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis has become one of the most visible ownership voices on the players’ side.
Davis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he did not consider artificial turf when the Raiders moved from Oakland and built Allegiant Stadium. He said player safety was his top reason, while also citing his own attachment to football on grass and mud.
Allegiant Stadium uses a grass field despite being an indoor venue in the desert. CBS Sports noted that the Arizona Cardinals have used a similar retractable field-tray setup for two decades.
The players’ safety case
The NFLPA has been pressing the issue for years. In 2020, executive director JC Tretter cited NFL injury data from 2012 through 2018 that showed non-contact lower-body injuries happened at a 28% higher rate on artificial turf than on grass.
That same data, cited by Tretter, showed non-contact knee injuries were 32% higher on turf, while foot and ankle injuries were 69% higher over that seven-year span.
Players have also said turf puts more force on their legs. CBS Sports reported that players have described feeling more sore and needing longer recovery after playing or practicing on turf compared with grass.
The NFL pushes back
The league is not accepting the NFLPA’s injury argument. NFL field director Nick Pappas said Tuesday on The Dan Patrick Show that the league no longer views the surface debate as an injury issue.
Pappas said the NFL looks at both injury rate and severity, including ACL injuries and extended time-loss injuries, and sees the grass-versus-turf numbers as split. He described the remaining injuries as part of the injury rate of playing football.
The NFL has pointed to 2021 and 2025 as years when injury rates on the two surfaces were nearly identical, according to CBS Sports. The NFLPA, however, published more data in 2023 arguing that 2021 was an outlier and that non-contact injuries were higher on turf in each of the nine previous years before rising again the following year.
CBS Sports reported that the league does not appear eager to remove artificial turf from every stadium. The surface needs less upkeep and makes it easier and cheaper for venues to host non-football events.
Pappas said the NFL is now focused on making artificial surfaces feel more like grass, particularly in how much energy is lost to or returned from the surface. He said that target would remain unless the league determines there is an injury connection.
The issue could follow the league and the union to the bargaining table. The current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2030 season, and CBS Sports reported that the field-surface fight may become a point of contention in the next labor cycle.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS Sports.