NFL Players Demand Grass Fields After World Cup
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- NFL players including Caleb Williams, Laremy Tunsil, Zaire Franklin, and George Kittle launched a #WorthTheCost social media push ahead of Sunday's FIFA World Cup final at MetLife Stadium, demanding permanent grass playing surfaces.
- MetLife Stadium is among 11 NFL venues that replaced artificial turf with grass for the 78 FIFA World Cup games this summer, with seven of those stadiums scheduled to revert to synthetic turf when the tournament concludes.
- NFLPA released a statement at the World Cup's start saying owners are 'choosing to do for soccer players what they refuse to do for NFL players,' noting that 92% of NFL players prefer natural grass and that 'the technology exists, the expertise exists and the resources exist.'
- Tunsil wrote on X: 'If stadiums can make grass work for the World Cup, they can make it work for NFL players,' while Franklin countered that 'the cost of doing nothing is paid for by players' bodies' and called for grass to be made mandatory.
- Kittle said in a June statement that the World Cup installations prove grass is feasible and that the decision 'comes down to the NFL making it a priority and choosing to invest in us as players, because our bodies are our business.'
- The NFL declined to comment when asked about the players' social media movement on Friday afternoon.
Why it matters: Eleven NFL stadiums just demonstrated they could install and maintain grass fields for 78 World Cup games, directly undermining the cost-and-feasibility argument owners have used against permanent grass — and seven of those venues are set to rip out the grass and revert to turf within days of the final unless the league acts.
