When one thinks of the outdoors, the default terrain that often comes to mind is grass. Research in recent years has revealed that there is a solid amount of NFL stadiums that use a football turf field. Seventeen NFL teams have natural grass in their stadiums. However, fourteen NFL teams have synthetic turf in their stadiums. Synthetic turf is becoming increasingly more popular. The reason is simple: It is a better option and we will tell you why.

First off, synthetic turf is advantageous as opposed to grass because it is longer-lasting and more durable. Natural grass can withstand no more than 816 hours of play annually. A period of rest is required for natural grass during periods of heavy play. On the other hand, synthetic turf can withstand 3000 hours of play annually without any rest required between periods of intense play.

As many may know, natural grass requires a great deal of maintenance. Grass needs to be watered and mowed at times. In addition, grass will often require the application of fertilizer and pesticide. On the other hand, synthetic turf only requires limited maintenance such as removing debris off of the turf and brushing its surface. With synthetic turf, there is no need for the use of pesticides or fertilizers. Thus, the maintenance for synthetic turf is limited.

Due to the lack of maintenance required, synthetic turf leads to more revenue and more return on investment. Synthetic turf leads to more revenue due to the fact that there is more opportunity for this surface to be used for sports and community activities. As we mentioned earlier, no rest time is needed for this surface, which leads to more opportunity for revenue-bearing activities. Synthetic turf is also three times less expensive over the course of twenty years, giving investors a much larger return on investment than they would get from choosing to use a grass field.

Additionally, synthetic turf is more environmentally friendly due to its water savings. Every time that a square meter of natural grass is replaced with synthetic turf, it leads to 2,200 gallons per year of water conservation. It has been told that synthetic turf conserves up to 8 billion gallons of water on an annual basis.

Additionally, the use of synthetic turf will lead to less pollution as opposed to natural grass. A riding lawn mower used for natural grass emits as much pollution as 34 vehicles. The pesticides and fertilizers used in natural grass can result in increased water pollution as opposed to the synthetic turf.