The NFL Players Association surveyed its membership of approximately 1,700 professional players and found that 92% prefer to play on high-quality natural grass, 6% are indifferent between surfaces, and only 2% prefer synthetic turf; a group composed predominantly of kickers. This is one of the most cited data points in the professional sports world on player surface preference, and it has reshaped the public conversation around synthetic turf safety at the highest levels of the game.

But what do these numbers actually tell us and what do they leave out? That is the question this article addresses directly.

Key Findings to Address

🟢 92% player preference for grass is a preference metric, not an injury metric. It reflects how players feel on different surfaces, including chronic soreness, fatigue, and perceived injury risk.

🟢 The NFLPA’s own data showed that 82.4% of NFL players believe synthetic turf is more likely to contribute to injury, and 89.7% believe it is more likely to shorten their career.

🟢 1% of NFL players reported that synthetic turf causes more soreness and fatigue.

🟢 NFLPA President JC Tretter noted: “Turf has stayed relatively consistent at an injury rate over the last decade. Grass this year has its highest injury rate over the last decade, but it was still lower than the injury rate on turf.”

🟢 Of the 30 NFL stadiums in use, 15 use artificial turf and 15 use grass or hybrid grass. The league has no specific regulation on surface type.

🟢 The 2026 FIFA World Cup prompted seven NFL stadium operators to install grass fields temporarily, a fact the NFLPA highlighted as proof that permanent grass is operationally possible.

What the Survey Does NOT Tell Us

This is where expert interpretation matters most. The NFLPA survey is a preference and perception survey, not a controlled scientific study. It does not:

Identify which generation, specification, or product of synthetic turf players experienced.
Distinguish between well-maintained, independently tested turf and poorly maintained, aging fields.
Control for cleat type, weather conditions, or field maintenance history.
Indicate whether surface quality or surface category is the actual driver of outcomes.

The peer-reviewed literature on this question is more nuanced. The Mack et al. (2019) NFL study found approximately 16% higher lower extremity injury rates on synthetic turf vs. natural grass, and identified rotational traction, not material category, as the primary biomechanical mechanism. A 2023 systematic review of 53 studies by Gould et al. found overall injury rates broadly similar between surfaces. The scientific consensus is not that synthetic turf is inherently unsafe — it is that surface design specifics, maintenance, and lifecycle performance are the determining variables.

Why This Matters (By Audience)

Field owners and athletic directors: Player preference data matters. So does surface specification. The right question is not “turf or grass?” — it is “what specification, what maintenance protocol, and what independent testing standard?”

Architects and engineers: Rotational traction — the measurable safety variable the NFLPA data points toward, is a designable, testable parameter. It can be independently verified before and after installation.

Community and school decision-makers: A high-quality, independently tested synthetic field may offer more consistent, safe playable conditions than a poorly maintained natural grass field, particularly at the community level.

Act Global Perspective

At Act Global, we take the NFLPA survey seriously, because our players take it seriously. The frustration behind those numbers is real. What the survey confirms is not that synthetic turf is universally inferior, but that the industry has not consistently delivered turf systems designed and verified to meet professional-level performance standards. That gap is exactly what independently tested, FIFA and NFL-validated turf systems are designed to close. Surface quality, rotational traction management, infill specification, and lifecycle maintenance are the engineering variables that determine whether a synthetic surface earns player trust, or loses it