I have no idea what it will take. I suspect that other issues (percentage of shared revenue....reducing practice time...etc...) were more critical in respect to priorities.
The "cost" argument is pretty much a canard.....in other words
bullcrap.
I do not buy for ONE SECOND that there is an overwhelming "cost" issue. The cost for installing and maintaining a grass field, although more than turf, is NOT in any way daunting or would come
even close to seriously impacting the bottom line.
There are a lot of numbers thrown around as to the cost difference in installing (and replacing every so often) a turf field as compared to the ongoing cost to maintain a grass field.
The differences are not that great. According to this article,
"Costs: Grass vs Synthetic Turf"....the conclusion is....."
Synthetic turf costs more to install, ALMOST as much to maintain, and HAS TO BE replaced once it wears out."
The estimates to install grass field in each stadium, a
report by Forbes said....
Yes, cold weather stadiums would have to change the grass more often and more difficult to maintain. Indoor stadiums present a challenge but not that much with the advent of advanced LED technology. Gee....they have been growing marijuana (and other less critical plants :D: ) indoors for decades, a little grass (yes, the grass that is played on) would present more maintenance cost but it is extremely possible
and realistic.
As the article above states, the difference in maintaining a grass vs turf field is
not that great....
For arguments sake, let's say it would cost $2M more annually to maintain grass over turf.
Forbes also annually publishes some extremely interesting numbers of each NFL team's worth, revenue and "operating income"...better known as
PROFIT.
The numbers are eye opening.
Average Worth - $5.1B
Average Revenue - $581M
Average Profit - $126M
Highest Worth - Dallas - $9B
Lowest Worth - Cincy - $3.5B
Highest Revenue - Dallas - $1.14B
Lowest Revenue - Detroit - $495M (only two teams below $550M - Cincy - $498)
Highest Profit - Dallas - $504M
Lowest Profit - Detroit - $51M
Only 13 Teams with
profit under $100M (Minny - $99M, Pittsburgh - $96M, KC - $95M)
Bills Worth - $3.7B
Bills Revenue - $503M
Bills Profit - $119M
$581M in Revenue...the average for NFL teams - if spend $2M on Grass (.34%)
Equivalent as a family with $100,000 income - spending $344.23
You would think that NFL owners, all of which became wealthy well before they bought or owned (if passed down within the family) would want to protect
THE most valuable asset they have.
THE PLAYERS!!!!
I suspect that they do not believe, for whatever reason, that grass field will not effect injuries in a substantial way. Studies are mixed on that subject.
What is NOT "mixed" is that players HATE PLAYING ON TURF. They may not get injured, but it is UNDENIABLE that their bodies take a MUCH worse beating with turf than grass.
Whenever the "it costs to much" argument comes up, it's bullcrap!!! When the NFLPA raises the priority of grass field, over or close to the subject of percentage of the overall revenue (and what constitutes sharable revenue) grass field will become the norm.