The FIFA World Cup has exposed the NFL, and especially the home of the New York Giants, to scrutiny among NFL players.
The NFLPA is reportedly monitoring the playing surfaces at each of the World Cup host stadiums, including MetLife Stadium, in hopes of pushing the NFL to enforce a mandatory grass policy at the 32 stadiums.
MetLife Stadium, the home of the Giants and New York Jets since 2010, has repeatedly been called out for its substandard playing surface. But all 16 World Cup sites are using natural grass surfaces, including the six United States NFL stadiums that have artificial turf for games.
MetLife Stadium Under Fire for Substandard Playing Surface (Again)
GettyThe field at MetLife Stadium is under fire again from players at the World Cup.
The World Cup has been a huge success this year in the United States. But MetLife Stadium, which will host the final July 19, is one of the blights on the tournament so far.
“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,” Jason La Canfora of Sports Boom reported. “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.”
The MetLife Stadium playing surface has claimed numerous victims of season-ending injuries, including current Giants wideouts Odell Beckham Jr. in 2017 and Malik Nabers last year. La Canfora spoke with an unnamed agent, who wants the league to standardize playing surfaces, especially off this tournament.
“This isn’t going away easily,” one prominent NFL agent told SportsBoom. “My guys (clients) are talking about it.”
The NFLPA is Leveraging Playing Surfaces Against an 18th Regular-Season Game
GettyMercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta is using a grass field for its eight World Cup matches this year.
NFL owners insist on an an 18th regular-season game, but the players’ association is pushing back against lengthening the schedule until the league figures out its playing surfaces.
“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,” La Canfora wrote “Many of these same NFL owners, who have been unwilling to utilize natural grass fields for their players, have willingly agreed to do so to fulfill FIFA’s obligations to host games in their stadiums (which are largely publicly subsidized, as well).
“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.”
Any logistical arguments made, particularly among owners with dome stadiums, are being trounced by stadiums like AT&T Stadium (Dallas) or Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta) boasting spectacular playing surfaces.
Considering Dallas is hosting nine World Cup matches, and Atlanta has eight, NFLPA officials believe the grass standard is both possible and logical.
“It’s become increasingly common for modern stadiums to have pallets with multiple natural surfaces tended to,” La Canfora reported. “That technology isn’t easy to install in all stadiums, [but] expect the calls among NFL players for the same treatment the soccer greats are benefiting from as the summer continues.”
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