In recent years, it has become clear based on NFL injury data that injuries are more likely to occur on artificial turf compared to natural grass playing surfaces. Even if it is safer for players, there is a pretty interesting reason why league owners might prefer to stick with artificial turf, and it has to do with pop superstar Taylor Swift.
Even though players might prefer playing on natural grass surfaces and it leads to fewer injuries, it is much harder for an NFL stadium to host massive concerts like the ones Swift just brought to NFL stadiums across the country throughout her nationwide “Eras Tour.”
For this reason, league insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk does not think it’s particularly likely that the league will move to natural grass across the NFL, even despite demands from NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell.
“He’s absolutely right. But the NFL won’t do it. Apart from the cost of installing and maintaining grass, owners with stadiums that host many other events will not want to devise a system for removing the grass for, for example, a Taylor Swift concert,” Florio wrote.
It’s pretty brutal news for the league that Swift and other pop stars could be standing in the way of player safety, and the NFL world had plenty to say about it on Twitter.
But at least you have turf you can switch out for Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran… https://t.co/vkecTUz5Ag
— Christopher Dearing ⭐️⭐️🏆🏆 (@kingdbiz26) September 12, 2023
Money matters. Bengals had Taylor swift concert back to back nights. With turf you can do that, I doubt you can make that happen on grass? Not sure though. Also I feel like it’s obviously easier to maintain etc but baseball teams do it always.
— matt white (@mattwhite85) September 12, 2023
But if you get rid of the turf you then can’t have a random Wednesday night Taylor Swift concert…. 🤑
— Cloud Smirk (@TyPri83) September 13, 2023
They could easily do grass. Its hard to maintain if you want to do concerts during the week though. That is why they need turf so they can bring in a stage for Taylor Swift and the owner can pocket more money. Money is being prioritized over player health which isn't surprising
— Chuck (@Cwebb3455) September 12, 2023
https://twitter.com/FixYourLife/status/1701638558178763169?s=20
This article mentions that owners won’t want to replace turf fields because it will make hosting concerts more difficult. The Phillies, for example, host Billy Joel every summer and they don’t seem to have a problem. There is no valid excuse to keep artificial turf fields. None. https://t.co/B7mEDVAXpl
— Birds and Beers Podcast (@BirdzAndBeerz) September 13, 2023
It’s worth noting that it’s not impossible to hold concerts in stadiums with natural grass, it’s just typically more difficult and expensive.