The NFL and the NLF Players Association (NLFPA) have agreed on a set of quality criteria pitches in the NFL league must meet from 2028. The rules will come into effect at the start of the upcoming season and will firstly apply to all teams that will change or replace their surface. From 2028, the rules will be compulsory for all fields in the league.
According to Nick Pappas, the NFL’s Field Director, the approach resembles the NFL/NFLPA helmet policy, where players must choose from a list of accredited helmet models. He pointed out that fields will be tested and approved by a joint committee with the NFLPA.
In the new approach, the NFL will issue a minimum set of criteria a surface product is expected to meet. Each surface is expected to pass the Biocore Elite Athlete Shoe Turf Tester (BEAST) and Strike Impact Tester both in labs and on-site. The BEAST test measures field traction, while the strike impact tester replicates the pressure points a player feels when hitting a playing surface.
Once accredited, NFL teams will be required to select a playing surface from an approved list of both natural and synthetic surfaces.
The concept also resembles the approach FIFA uses for its synthetic turf football surfaces.
Red, yellow and green effect
“We want to make sure that we’re supporting our clubs and we’re supporting our athletes,” Pappas said, “and ensuring that every field that enters our league is meeting the requirements that we believe are, obviously, ever evolving but the right ones.”
“It’s sort of a red, yellow, green effect, where we’re obviously trying to phase out fields that we have determined to be less ideal than newer fields coming into the industry,” Pappas added. “This is a big step for us. This is something that I think has been a great outcome from the Joint Service Committee, all the work, the deployment and development of devices, determining the appropriate metrics, and, ultimately, providing us with a way to substantiate the quality of fields more so than we ever have in the past.”
In a statement, the NLFPA wrote: “While our player members have been clear about their overwhelming preference for high-quality, natural grass surfaces, we’re encouraged that their demands for more consistent and safer fields across the board are taking a step in the right direction. We look forward to continuing this work with the NFL on behalf of our player members.”
The rules will also apply to overseas venues that host NFL games.