This article originally appeared in the Health and Medicine print issue, in stands January 2025. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date.
The University of Utah has an issue that is potentially leaving millions on the table. The problem doesn’t have to do with education, tuition or student housing, but rather the playing surface of the football field at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Does it seem hard to believe that a turf football field is causing the university to lose out on this much money? Probably. Is there evidence to show how a grass playing surface would drastically improve the health of the team? Absolutely.
Simply put, college football brings money. The winner of Utah’s conference, Arizona State, earned $8 million for clinching a bye in the College Football Playoff. They were able to do so by winning the conference with a record of 7-2.
The Sun Devils were picked to finish dead last in the Big 12 conference preseason poll, and arguably the team’s secret to success was staying healthy, among other things. Surely Arizona State has a state-of-the-art turf football facility, right? Nope, just a plain and simple grass surface with a good maintenance staff.
What Does This Mean for Utah?
Utah has had a detrimental number of injuries throughout the last few seasons. Star players like Cameron Rising, Brant Kuithe, Money Parks, Kenan Johnson and Brandon Rose all suffered season-ending injuries in 2024 alone.
While it’s impossible to put the blame for all of these injuries on the FieldTurf at Rice-Eccles, it’s important to realize the toll that playing on the surface takes on players’ lower bodies.
The Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center’s facilities, where the team holds practice, contains the same turf as the team’s stadium. Part of being a Division I athlete is running, cutting and jumping day after day at practice. Doing this on turf increases the odds of injury.
“Professional football players put extremely high levels of force and rotation onto the playing surface. Grass will eventually give, which often releases the cleat prior to reaching an injurious load,” JC Tretter, 2020-2024 president of the NFL Players Association, said. “On synthetic surfaces, there is less give, meaning our feet, ankles and knees absorb the force, which makes injury more likely to follow.”
“Artificial turf is significantly harder on the body than grass. Based on NFL injury data collected from 2012 to 2018, not only was the contact injury rate for lower extremities higher during practices and games held on artificial turf, NFL players consistently experienced a much higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries on turf compared to natural surfaces,” he said. “Specifically, players have a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries when playing on artificial turf. Of those non-contact injuries, players have a 32% higher rate of non-contact knee injuries on turf and a staggering 69% higher rate of non-contact foot/ankle injuries on turf compared to grass.”
Utah football has undoubtedly been harmed by this. Underachieving seasons in back-to-back years have been correlated to a surplus of injuries. The Utes football program has more resources and talent than it has ever had before. There is no reason to lag behind competitors when it comes to leveling the playing field, both figuratively and literally.
Salt Lake City’s Environment
One may argue that Utah’s environment isn’t exactly ideal for planting grass and sustaining it through cold weather. While this may be somewhat true, it has been proven possible by Brigham Young University, which sits only 40 minutes south of the U.
Teams like the Baltimore Ravens use artificial lights and lamps to keep their grass growing during the snowy winter months, a strategy that is plausible for a big-time program like Utah. It may be expensive, but if it means players are staying healthy, the odds of success go through the roof. That success would be more than enough to pay for these costs.
A No-Brainer
In addition, Rice-Eccles Stadium is often used for events outside of football in the offseason — just this year, world-renowned performers like Post Malone, Billy Joel and Sting are set to take the temporary stage at RES in 2025. A dependable grounds crew would be capable of transforming and repairing the field before and after these events.
This decision should be a no-brainer for Mark Harlan as Utah’s director of athletics. The University of Utah has been an innovative, cutting-edge school throughout its history, and the athletics department has taken strides above the rest of the country as a result.
Grass has scientifically been proven to be a safer, more efficient playing surface than turf. Because of these reasons, Utah needs to make turning Rice-Eccles Stadium to grass a priority.
