NFL players call for league-wide switch to natural grass after World Cup

Players across the NFL have renewed calls for the league to replace artificial turf with natural grass at all stadiums. The effort gained momentum after the 2026 FIFA World Cup used natural grass at several venues that normally host NFL games. San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle publicly urged the change last month and repeated the request after attending the World Cup final.

Kittle posted on social media that grass still looked good at the venues and asked the NFL to switch surfaces.

The NFL Players Association has advocated for natural surfaces for three years. First-year executive director JC Tretter has made the issue a priority. The union launched the hashtag #WorthTheCost over the weekend to highlight player safety concerns.

NFL injury data from 2012-18 showed a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower-extremity injuries on artificial turf than on grass. The data also recorded 32% more non-contact knee injuries and 69% more foot and ankle injuries on turf.

Cup surface changes MetLife Stadium removed its artificial turf and installed 20 truckloads of Tahoma 31 bermudagrass for the World Cup. The grass took about 10 months to grow at a farm in North Carolina before installation, which also required two feet of sand, an irrigation system, and vacuum ventilation.

AT&T Stadium hosted nine World Cup matches and SoFi Stadium hosted eight on natural grass. Two stadiums with retractable roofs, NRG Stadium and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, combined to host 15 matches on grass. Kittle said owners could spend a couple extra million dollars to install grass at all fields.

Half of NFL stadiums already use natural grass.