NFL Owners Who Don’t Install Natural Grass on Their Fields Boggle the Mind
By Ken Reed
The NFL salary cap is $224.8 million per team in 2023. That’s a pretty big investment for owners. Yet, for some reason, half of the NFL’s owners continue to use artificial turf fields that have proven to be more dangerous for players than natural grass fields.
Aaron Rodgers’ recent season-ending achilles injury has brought renewed attention to the playing surfaces in the NFL. Of course, Rodgers may have suffered the same injury on a natural grass field as well. We’ll never know. What we do know from research is that more injuries occur on artificial turf fields relative to natural grass fields.
According to NFLPA President JC Tretter, “Artificial turf is significantly harder on the body than grass.”
Tretter referenced an independent study that found players have a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries on artificial turf. More specifically, players have a 32% higher rate of non-contact knee injuries on turf and a shocking 69% higher rate of non-contact foot or ankle injuries on turf.
Playing in a domed stadium is no longer an excuse for not switching to natural grass these days. Both the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders have retractable field systems that allow natural gas fields to move in and out. Real Madrid has a fully retractable field that’s stored in a greenhouse beneath the stadium.
NFL stadiums have switched from artificial turf to natural grass in order to host World Cup games or big soccer exhibitions, but then they switch back to artificial turf for their own players. Yes, owners can save money on maintenance costs with artificial turf fields but those savings pale in comparison to the cost of losing a $25 million-a-year player for the season.
This should be an easy — and smart — decision for NFL owners. “It’s a no brainer,” says agent Drew Rosenhaus.
“If the owners care about their players and want to win, then they will make the switch! I encourage the leaders at the NFL to push for this change. It’s for the good of the players and the game itself.”
No brainer indeed.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans

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Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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