Natural Grass Debate Set to Intensify After FIFA World Cup Boost in Next NFL CBA Talks

The FIFA World Cup being held in America has been a rousing success so far, and the fact that the players themselves are giving high marks to the grass surfaces being laid in many NFL stadiums is not going unnoticed by NFL players.

As SportsBoom has been documenting, the NFL Players Association is going to wait for the owners to come to them with financial incentives and other financial packages to try to get the players to agree to an 18th game, which is integral to their aspirations for their next round of broadcast negotiations. 

And many of these same NFL owners, who have been unwilling to utilize natural grass fields for their players, have willingness agreed to do so to fulfill FIFA’s obligations to host games in their stadiums (which are largely publicly subsidized, as well).

Times have changed drastically since the US last hosted a World Cup in 1994, and there is a growing bond between NFL players and global soccer talents. 

They interact on social media and in real life, and what’s being said publicly and privately about these playing surfaces is resonating with NFL players, who believe artificial surfaces are a big part of the plague of knee and Achilles injuries in football.

One Stadium Keeps Faring Poorly

The one surface that hasn’t earned sterling marks is the one at MetLife Stadium (New York/New Jersey for FIFA purposes), which has also fallen under particular ire among NFL players. 

It’s become increasingly common for modern stadiums to have pallets with multiple natural surfaces tended to, and while that technology isn’t easy to install in all stadiums, expect the calls among NFL players for the same treatment the soccer greats are benefiting from as the summer continues.

The battle for optics on “health and safety” will be critical to any future horse-trading between these sides, and however difficult it will be for the owners to get concessions for that 18th game, it may become even more challenging trying to do so without making vows to provide grass surfaces by a certain point in the future. 

League sources indicated that NFLPA head JC Tretter is closely monitoring the situation, and this could be a considerable topic as management and labor begin negotiating the future economics of the game this year.

“This isn’t going away easily,” one prominent NFL agent told SportsBoom. “My guys (clients) are talking about it.”