Is Pittsburgh Steelers Field Turf Or Grass?

By Ashish Chamlagain / 25 September 2023 03:32 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers field has natural grass on the surface. It was first bedded in 1999, two years before the Heinz Field opened in 2001.

The ground is currently known as Acrisure Stadium and has been the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers ever since the controlled implosion of their previous home, Three Rivers Stadium.

It is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, and was built on a total cost of $281 million which is equivalent to $464.41 million by now. The stadium is on the bank of the Ohio River constructed using 12,000 tons of steel to honor Pittsburgh's history of steel production.

At the request of the Rooney family, the stadium was designed by HOK Sport to acknowledge the history of the city. The use of steel structurally and externally is due to the same reason.

The designers used artificial stones to reduce the cost of the building and the glass was used as it was the modern building element during the time as well.

The scoreboard size at the Field is 27 by 96 feet which was the largest score display in the NFL during its opening years. The seating capacity of the stadium is 68,400.

Does Heinz Field Have Real Grass?

Yes, Heinz Field has real grass on the ground. The Kentucky bluegrass type was seeded over an area of 2.2 acres with multiple subsurfaces below it.

The plantation was done in 1999 and the multiple layers below it consist of a 10-inch layer of 82% sand and a mixture of soil and peat in 18% amount. Under that lies pea gravel of four-inch level. Below that there are pipes of 3/4 miles installed for drainage and irrigation purposes.

There are more than four dozen rotors involved in watering the field and is operated by Hunter Genesis Controller and maintains the playing surface lush and green forever.

There is also a heating system just below the surface so the players no longer feel frozen feet as the system maintains the ground temperature at a constant 62 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) which also keeps the lawn growing throughout the year.

The surface demanded multiple resurfacing and in 2003 synthetic-enhanced Desso GrassMaster was installed. Although the natural field has been highly criticized over the years, the Pitts players, coaches, and opponents have always supported keeping the natural lawn.

The field conditions due to the natural playing surface have gone so bad at times. For instance, Brandon Fields, a punter for the Miami Dolphins got his punted ball stuck on the lawn without bouncing in 2007 as the rain before the start of the game made the field's condition worse.

Scott Brown, a journalist from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review remarked it as "a veritable mud pit" while the players called the condition of the surface "horrendous" and "a lawsuit pending". The surface was again replaced by the previous one later.

In a poll of NFL players after the 2008 season, the surface was rated worst of the 18 fields in the League containing natural lawn on the ground.

NFL Stadiums With Real Grass 2022

There are 15 NFL teams that use real lawn on the ground. The remaining 17 play on the artificial lawn. The real natural playing surface is the first choice of the players.

The athletes are likely to be injured less on the real playing bed as compared to the artificial playing surface. In a survey conducted by NFLPA 93% of player voted against artificial greenery and addressed those fields as a barrier in their career.

Below list of NFL Fields with natural lawn:

State Farm Stadium - Arizona Cardinals
M&T; Bank Stadium - Baltimore Ravens
Soldier Field - Chicago Bears
FirstEnergy Stadium - Cleveland Browns
Empower Field at Mile High - Denver Broncos
TIAA Bank Field - Jacksonville Jaguars
Arrowhead Stadium - Kansas City Chiefs
Allegiant Stadium - Las Vegas Raiders
Raymond James Stadium - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Nissan Stadium - Tennessee Titans
FedEx Field - Washington Commanders
Acrisure Stadium - Pittsburgh Steelers
Levi's Stadium - San Francisco 49ers
Hard Rock Stadium - Miami Dolphins
Lambeau Field - Green Bay Packers

Among all the stadiums above, the Soldier Field, FirstEnergy, Empower Field, and Acrisure stadium use Kentucky bluegrass while all other play surfaces use Bermuda Sod.

The Browns and the Steelers although having their play area in the cold climatic regions cultivate the natural green lawn in both Lambeu and Acrisure. Similarly, Arizona and Las Vegas use Bermuda type even though they have indoor stadiums.

Which NFL Stadiums Have Artificial Turf?

NFL fields with artificial turf include Lumen Field, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Highmark Stadium, AT&T; Stadium, NRG Stadium, and SoFi Stadium.

Although about 91% of players believe that playing on artificial lawns makes them fatigued and sore, many stadiums still use these artificial lawn.

Here is the list of the stadiums with artificial sod:

Bank of America Stadium - Carolina Panthers
Paul Brown Stadium - Cincinnati Bengals
Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis Colts
Caesars Superdome - New Orleans Saints
Metlife Stadium - New York Jets
Gillette Stadium - New England Patriots

The artificial playing beds are of various types ranging from Revolution to Revolution 360, and from Series S5-M Synthetic to Hellas Matrix, There are also other techs like Shaw Sports Momentum Pro and Classic HD.

A Look Into man-made sod vs. Natural Grass

These man-made sods are more likely to invite players to injury and since the introduction of astroturfs in 1965 the athletes have been facing a lot of non-contact injuries to the lower part of the body.

Per an NFL study, athletes playing on man-made sod are likely to hurt their lower extremities by 28% more than those on the natural field.

Besides, 69% of ankle and foot ankle injuries occur while playing on an artificial playing surface. The debate of natural playing beds vs. artificial playing surfaces is always a hot topic in the NFL.

Players have started to call out against the use of artificial lawns and the NFLPA continuously urging the NFL to ask the teams to replace the lawns with real natural sods.

The teams in the League have a different view of the urge. They believe that the rate of injuries in both cases doesn't have a huge difference but the athletes have been vocal otherwise.

There is actually no specific rule in the National Football League regarding which play surface to be used on the stadium although NFLPA has been releasing statements upon statements asking the NFL to completely stop the use of such man-made playing surface.

Artificial Turf Injuries Vs Grass

The rate of non-contact injuries in artificial sods is higher as compared to the sods. By 2022, the stats on the artificial one was 0.048 per 100 and the sod was 0.035.

NFLPA halted the debate in the 2021 season as the numbers were almost similar but it has again returned to the same stage as the data show a huge difference in the last season.

While coming from 2012 to 2020, the rate of lower extremities injuries was less on the natural play surface. The stats came in a parallel path in 2021 and again parted ways in 2022.

The president of the Union, J.C. Tretter also quoted the equal data of the analytics in 2021 as "the NFL used an outlier year to engage in a PR campaign to convince everyone that the problem doesn't actually exist" in an essay posted on NFLPA's website.

Even the players since very long have been considering the natural sod field not only as a safer play surface but also as a different feeling while running on real greenary.

Aaron Rodgers's torn Achilles in his 2023 season game at the MetLife Stadiumlawn has gathered more attention from the concerned authorities demanding the replacement of the playing surface with natural lawn cultivation.

NFL Grass Field Injury

In the last six seasons, 5.39 injuries occurred on the natural playing beds which is which is 4.8% lower as compared to that on the lawn. 7 have man-made play surfaces among the top injury-producing stadiums.

Only two of the sod surface stadiums have a higher rate of injury including Allegiant Stadium and Empower Field at Mile High. The Allegiant's status is taken from the 25 game data whereas others have been studied from the points of view of 46 games.

The Empower field on the other hand is elevated to more than 4,000 feet making it the reason to blame for the injury as it is very difficult to play inside such elevation as compared to lower heights of the stadium. The play surface merely plays a part in it.

NFL Artificial Turf Injury

On the top 10 stadiums with injuries, seven fields including Ford Field, MetLife Field, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, SoFi Stadium, and High Mark Stadium are on the high mark list.

The rate is 5.69 per game which is 4.8% more than those occurring in the real lawn. Besides, if we look at the rated according to the body parts and contact type it is 2.39 per game on the man-made playing beds and 0.81 on the natural sod for lower leg harm.

Similarly, for non-contact injuries, it is 0.81 per game/0.84 per game on the artificial playing surface and green sod respectively.

The man-made play surface invites 0.86 head injuries and 0.88 contact with ground injuries whereas the other has 0.76 and 0.82 injuries per game in the same category.