This study is from 2019, but it found that there was no statistical difference in injuries between artificial turf and grass besides ankle injuries. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31306590/
The more recent stuff is showing that newer turf technology is just slightly worse than grass but there are a few that hint towards hybrid fields being healthier than just grass because of their increased durability during bad weather.
The pitch at Yankee Stadium was in a terrible state on Saturday. Players were going down all over the field. DeJuan Jones was substituted and there were 11 minutes of added time in the first half. It looked like that even after the heavy rain in the previous 24 hours they grounds staff had over-watered the pitch. This caused cleats to get stuck.
“Because 99.9% of the teams who play in high level play on grass, otherwise Uefa and Fifa would decide to play on artificial pitch. It’s common sense I would say.”
It’d be more expensive, but indoor grass is a possibility. They have growlights on wheels that can mimic the sun, proper drainage, sprinklers and the like. Modern stadiums with only the grass surface aren’t that much different than domes as far as sunlight goes.
Not all grass is the same either. Low quality grass fields are far worse than most turf. That said, high quality grass is preferred my almost everybody. Grass has a lower floor but higher ceiling, but turf is reliably better than bad grass, especially at lower levels (youth, amateur, high school) where the quality of grass fields are generally much lower. Did you see the field in Monterrey for the champions cup last week? Turf would have been an improvement on that cow patch.
Negative confirmation bias, unfortunately. Everyone remembers the injuries that happen on turf, but none of the injuries on grass are remembered. None of the studies that have been on third gen turf have seen a significant injury rate on turf when compared to grass. There are different injuries types on the lower legs, but they happen at the same rate overall and games missed is roughly the same.
Most of the opinions of turf are based on when it was literally carpet on concrete. That sh*t was dangerous af and the leagues were right to ban them. Since then, third gen turf had come out and, for soccer, there isn’t evidence it causes more injuries. FIFA even has ratings with turf with the highest rating being acceptable for the highest level competitions.
The grass in at FedEx field was so bad that the league all but made Dan Snyder completely rebuild the field and have specially made grass formulated specifically for the stadium before the 2021 season. RGIII, Joe Burrow, and a few others specially blamed the field itself for injuries.
If the rate of ankle injuries is increased on turf, what kinds of injuries are happening at a lower rate in order for the overall injury rate to be roughly even?
Ankle injuries are similar in grass and turf, it’s just whether the it is a high ankle or low ankle that is different. I can’t remember which is which, but one has a higher rate of high ankle injuries and the other has a higher rate of low ankle injuries.
Today's turf pitches are way better than the monstrosities of 20 years ago. If they were even suspected to be a significant source of injury there would have been a class action lawsuit by now. A lot of teams, even in Europe, train on turf, kids grow up playing on turf and lower division teams in a lot of countries play on turf. Star players used to choose to skip matches on turf but we don't even see that now. I'd prefer all grass but if we end up with just 3 or 4 turf pitches things are better than they used to be.
We can use the same logic when it comes to stadium renovations. Why do it? Is the team going to play better? Nope. Do you go to a stadium for the amenities or to see a game? To see a game. Then no need for renovations.
Teams need more revenue and money to sign/pay better players..... in order to do that they need stadiums with better amenities to attract a higher paying cust....errrr....fan.
Introducing UNION YARDS 🎉 Union Yards features an indoor brew hall and outdoor tailgate zone that will be open to all fans pre-game, post-game, and select special events.The new space will officially open on 4/27!📝 https://t.co/kr3McDPaag#DOOP pic.twitter.com/GYkq2rZ6CZ— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) April 15, 2024
Charleston had it right all the way back in 99 when The Three Lions pub was part of Blackbaud Stadium.
It's a shell. They've only just acquired it. I guess they can't afford MLS style fancy, schmamcy graphics.
Lower.com has The Pub attached to it, although this season they have hired Condados Tacos to run the operation.
I think the stadium floor gets used too much for that. I haven’t looked at the schedule recently, but a couple of years ago there were events in there 4-5 times a week. No time for grow lights.