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Seven NFL stadiums are installing grass fields to comply with FIFA regulations for this summer’s World Cup, and Fox Sports’ Stu Holden believes there could be a domino effect.
Half of the league’s stadiums use grass, despite NFLPA CEO Lloyd Howell saying that 92% of league players I prefer grass.
Even though NFL players begged for grass and were told no, stadiums had no choice but to, as NFLPA head JC Tretter once said, “roll out the green carpet of grass.”
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Workers install the pitch at New York New Jersey Stadium ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 7, 2026. (Charly Triballeau/AFP)
At a news conference Friday, Tretter said grass fields will be “a big conversation” after the tournament, specifically in the NFL.
“The fields will play so well that NFL players will continue to make more noise about why they don’t have grass in their stadiums and there is grass, because it can be done,” Holden told reporters on Zoom. “And FIFA has the most strict, detailed, you know, strict process for how these fields should be played, because they understand that the grass and the playing surface are the most important part for the game to be good.
“If you don’t have a good grass field, it’s hard to see a good product on the field.”
The NFLPA has released several surveys and studies showing that turf has been safer than turf, and Holden can apparently see why that is.
Workers install the pitch at New York New Jersey Stadium, temporarily renamed MetLife Stadium, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 7, 2026. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
STEELERS CAPTAIN CALLS HOME FIELD ‘S—‘ AS PLAYERS COMPLAIN TO NFLPA ABOUT PLAYING SURFACE
“There’s nothing that can replicate what real grass fields are like, watering it the right way, that for a player is a dream, and something that all of us, you know, grass will never be able to replicate from a grass perspective.”
It was announced late last year that each NFL team will receive “a library of approved and accredited NFL fields” before the 2026 season begins. Any new fields will have to immediately meet those standards, and all teams will have two years to reach them. Both grass and synthetic turf fields will be subject to the new rules.
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 8: A general view of the NFL logo painted on the field before the NFL Super Bowl LX football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium on February 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
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The NFL has no plans to require natural grass fields. The league’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills, said there are “no statistically significant differences” in lower extremity injuries or concussions that can be attributed to the type of playing surface or a specific surface**, despite** widespread player preferences for grass fields and complaints about surfaces like the one at MetLife Stadium, where the New York Giants and Jets play.
