MetLife Stadium Turf to Be Replaced (Report)

MetLife Stadium's artificial surface has drawn heavy criticism, given the number of injuries occurring on the surface yearly.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Nov 17, 2022 9:45 PM EST

In this story:

New York Giants

The days of the current artificial turf housed at MetLife Stadium are reportedly numbered.

Giants safety Julian Love, who is also one of the team's player reps, says that plans are underway for the nearly 13-year-old stadium to replace its current system known as a "slit film turf," which has drawn heavy criticism from the NFLPA following a study of injuries occurring on that type of turf.

“The Giants and MetLife are in the process of getting things done for next year,” Love told NJ Advance Media. “That turf will be changed. The stats have shown that we are on one of the worst fields in the league.”

It was not made clear if MetLife Stadium will be switching to grass or another artificial surface.

The issue with slit film turf is that the grass blades are not monofilament (single blades, like real grass). Slit film has openings in the pieces, resembling a net-like effect). These openings could potentially catch a player's cleats in the material. (See this article which has a magnified picture depicting the net-like effect and a picture of a monofilament closeup.)

The NFLPA, in its study, concluded that the slit film playing surface "has statistically higher in-game injury rates than all other surfaces" in terms of non-contact injuries, missed time injuries, lower extremity (LEX) injuries, and foot and ankle injuries.

The NFL, according to ESPN, has countered that the league-wide injury rates are about the same on grass and artificial turf:

As recently as 2019, the rate of such injuries was notably higher on artificial turf fields than on grass. But the difference began narrowing in 2020, and by 2021, the numbers were almost the same. Artificial surfaces had an incident rate of .042 per 100 in 2021, while the rate for natural surfaces was .041 per 100.

Players have argued that grass surfaces are preferred because they're easier on the body. However, MetLife Stadium is a multipurpose venue that, in addition to housing two football teams, also hosts concerts and other events that would make it challenging (not to mention expensive ) to maintain an all-grass field.

The Giants have been among the most injured teams over the last several years, according to ManGamesLost.com. They are currently among the most injured teams in the league after 11 weeks.

Earlier this year, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll spoke about looking into the MetLife Stadium turf, which was last installed before the 2020 season, to explore a potential change this coming offseason.

The Giants and Jets, who share MetLife Stadium, are two of seven teams who play on the slit-film turf. The others include the Lions, Vikings, Saints, Colts, and Bengals. Slit film also is used at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, which has hosted NFL games.

While the likelihood of MetLife Stadium's adapting a natural grass field seems unlikely, perhaps switching to an artificial monofilament surface that more closely resembles grass might be the answer.