A person familiar with the 49ers' league and union negotiations told Yahoo Sports that the club contemplated practicing elsewhere before settling on UNLV. On Wednesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan called the field “the best choice we've got” but said it wasn't perfect.
“We’re here, we’re practicing,” Shanahan added. Everyone has preferences. Wish it were better, but we'll deal
Howell said the event shows the league has to improve all field conditions. NFL has 13 grass fields, which have reduced injuries annually. All 17 remaining stadiums feature field grass. The union has repeatedly pushed teams to convert turf fields to grass or a safer version of field turf, demand better care on grass fields, and create an overlapping standard that would make all playing surfaces safer and more consistent.
“Here we are talking about a practice field — albeit synthetic grass — that really isn’t up to snuff for what our players deserve,” Howell said. We're aware of the situation. We hope to have reached a solution through our player directors and league consultation. The fact that you're asking this question during our sport's biggest chance is a problem. Just simple sense.
Due to the cost and maintenance of maintaining grass fields, some team owners have balked at switching from turf to grass, especially in domed stadiums that were not designed to house a tray system, which rolls the field outdoors and grooms it in natural sunlight. Some NFL domed stadiums and those with field turf have agreed to host FIFA “friendlies” and World Cup matches in 2026. Stadiums must cover their turf with synthetic grass for certain games.
“They will put a synthetic grass field in turf stadiums,” Howell stated. FIFA will wrap it up and take it. So a model says, ‘For another sport, it's possible.’
In the union's last league report card, almost 92% of 1,700 players chose grass. Since there will be no labor war, the union will prioritize additional grass fields and playing-surface uniformity for years to come.
At the end of the day, our players prefer grass,” Howell added. It should matter. People would tell players, ‘Hey, I want to play at Augusta, not the local muni.’ It matters. Game quality counts. We think this problem will persist and be debated.”
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