NFL cites player safety in plan to bring every stadium’s playing surface up to enhanced standards

As the statement implicit NFL playing surfaces continues, the league introduced a program that aims to bring much consistency to each stadiums.

The caller enhanced standards volition person to beryllium met by 2028, according to the NFL, and volition beryllium acceptable done laboratory and tract testing.

Nick Pappas, an NFL tract director, shared immoderate details astir the plans for the programme rollout.

Each squad volition beryllium provided with "a room of approved and accredited NFL fields" earlier the 2026 play begins. Any caller tract volition instantly person to conscionable those standards, and each teams volition person 2 years to execute them. Both writer and synthetic turf fields volition beryllium taxable to the caller standards.

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The NFL logo connected the tract astatine SoFi Stadium Nov. 25, 2024, successful Inglewood, Calif. (Kirby Lee/magn Images)

Most artificial surfaces are replaced each 2 oregon 3 years, Pappas said. Natural fields tin person a shorter usage span and are often replaced respective times during a azygous season.

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Pappas added that the fields volition person undergone extended investigating and been approved by a associated committee with the NFLPA.

 "It’s benignant of a red, yellow, greenish effect, wherever we’re evidently trying to signifier retired fields that we person determined to beryllium little perfect than newer fields coming into the industry," helium said.

The Las Vegas Raiders logo astatine midfield astatine Allegiant Stadium Oct. 27, 2024, successful Paradise, Nev. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

"This is simply a large measurement for us. This is thing that I deliberation has been a large result from the Joint Surfaces Committee of the work, the deployment and improvement of devices determining the due metrics and yet providing america with a mode to substantiate the prime of fields much truthful than we ever person successful the past."

Pappas said fields person been tested successful labs and connected tract utilizing 2 main tools. One is called the BEAST, which is simply a traction investigating instrumentality that replicates the movements of an NFL player. The different is called the STRIKE Impact Tester, which helps find the firmness of each field.

The turf tract for a preseason crippled betwixt the New Orleans Saints and the Denver Broncos astatine the Caesars Superdome Aug. 23, 2025, successful New Orleans.  (Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images)

The league's extremity is to find fields that are arsenic accordant arsenic imaginable for each 30 NFL stadiums and astatine each stadium passim the season. Pappas said the "key pillars" for a tract are optimized playability, reducing wounded hazard and subordinate feedback.

The NFL has nary plans to necessitate earthy writer fields. The league’s main aesculapian officer, Dr. Allen Sills, said determination are nary "statistically important differences" successful little extremity injuries oregon concussions that tin beryllium attributed to the benignant of playing aboveground oregon a circumstantial aboveground contempt wide preferences by players for writer fields and complaints astir surfaces specified arsenic the 1 astatine MetLife Stadium, wherever the New York Giants and Jets play.

"The aboveground is lone 1 operator of these little extremity injuries," Sills said. "There are a batch of different factors, including subordinate load and erstwhile past and fatigue, positional adaptability and cleats that are worn. So, surfaces are a component, but it is simply a analyzable equation."

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The earthy writer tract for the upcoming Super Bowl astatine Levi’s Stadium successful Santa Clara, California, has been increasing astatine a sod workplace located a mates hours eastbound of the Bay Area.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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