I don't like it. 32 teams with the top half making the round of 16 seemed pretty perfect. I don't think more group stage games with powerhouses against minnows helps the tournament. Not in a sporting sense, anyway. I'm sure the extra money is helping someone...
What a joke. A one time event gets a natural surface for the players, but the two teams that call the stadium home can't get that same treatment from the owners. There is no excuse anymore not to have grass, with what they're doing to have it indoors in places like Arizona and Las Vegas.
Maybe they can do something like this: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ditional-revenue-stunning-transformation.html
I would say absolutely not. That's why PSL was such a scam at MetLife. How do you determine who owns the seat? You or the Giants fan who paid the PSL in the same seat as you. It isn't like other stadiums where only one person "owns" that seat. Was one of the reasons why my family gave up the seats. No benefit whatsoever to own that seat considering you don't get exclusives for tickets b/c 2 people own those seats.
It is true that when you have skin in the game it makes it all a lot more stressful - my second favourite WC was USA 94 in part because England didn't qualify so I could just enjoy the experience (greatest ever WC for me is still Italia 90 - with Euro 96 being the best Euros)
There's absolutely no reason why something like that, or like what they're doing in Arizona or Vegas, or some other innovation we have yet to know about or consider can't be done when one considers the billions upon billions of dollars that just flow through the NFL. It's just inexcusable at this point in time for them to be playing on anything other than grass. The artificial turf they use doesn't even look good on TV, either, which is probably all they're concerned about.
The fact that there isn't a league wide rule that all stadiums need to have natural grass playing surfaces is beyond stupid and defies all common sense. Furthermore the fact that the Jets don't have a grass playing surface is just inexcusable and of course it will affect their ability to get free agents. Every little thing helps or hurts in recruiting. There is ZERO reason not to have grass. There is no upside, only downside. Oh by the way the two teams in the Super Bowl this year? They both play on grass surfaces.
A grass field handling the wear and tear of 7 soccer matches over 2 months is one thing A grass field handling the wear and tear of 17 consecutive weeks of football is another.
Based on what though? I’m not saying your wrong but the only report I’ve seen is a skewed NFLPA report in favor of grass. I do agree though there whatever the standard is, there should be an established standard for playing surfaces. It’s shocking that there isn’t quite frankly.
errr soccer pitches in the UK would see at least 19 home matches plus several more for cup matches and then more again if in Europe (and could easily be played on twice in a week). although they are "grass" most soccer pitches in the UK are known as hybrid pitches with a mix of grass and artificial - they aren't old skool "turf" pitches
I like that there isn't an established standard and every city could be different. It is boring when everything is the same. Homefield advantage and all that stuff is cool. That's why baseball is awesome cause you could go to Detroit and play the Tigers on a cold day with that deep ass fence and play a 1-0 game they are used to. Then next week be in Wrigley with the wind blowing out and in that bandbox people are mashing home runs. It makes the schedule a challenge. You gotta be good in any type of game. Same in NFL - play the Rams in a dome on a track field "the greatest show on turf" then next week at Cleveland in a mud pit. why make it all the same
The product is badly hampered by a rotation of injuries every single week. I’m not saying any particular field type helps or hurts but at the very least the NFL should dump millions into seeing how playing surface affects it. And then subsequently make a decision on it. If the game didn’t produce such bad injury results, it’d be one thing. They simply play too many games in my opinion to be doing so on inconsistent playing fields.
Thats a good point I just don’t want everyone to play in the same boring domes with the same boring fields. And I think their research into playing surfaces would tell them that’s the way to go
Grass is so hard to maintain! Give me a fucking break. They are making money hand over fist, the least they could do is a grass field. The players all want it and they are the ones actually playing on it and generating all the money. Plus, imagine the smell as you walk in to the stadium. Yards and yards of freshly-cut grass.
