Steelers to Replace 'F-Minus' Acrisure Stadium Turf After Leaked NFLPA Report Card

The Pittsburgh Steelers' home stadium is making changes to a field that earned an F-minus grade from players in leaked NFLPA report cards published Thursday by ESPN.

Steelers owner Art Rooney said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine that Acrisure Stadium is installing a new type of grass ahead of the 2026 season, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac.

The stadium will be switching from Kentucky bluegrass to Tahoma 31 Bermuda, a bluegrass-Bermuda mixture also used at the Philadelphia Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field and Chicago Bears' Soldier Field, according to Dulac.

The Bears received a home game field grade of C, while the Eagles' field received an A grade on the latest report cards, according to ESPN.

The same field is also used by the Purdue and Arkansas football teams, the MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers and on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, according to Tahoma 31.

Tahoma 31 describes the grass mixture as being known "for its wear resistance and cold tolerance."

The Steelers earned the NFL's worst overall grade in the report cards, which were based on responses from 1,759 players answering questions between November and December of last year, per ESPN's Kalyn Kahler.

The NFL informed teams in a Feb. 13 memo shared by ESPN's Adam Schefter that the league had succeeded in a legal case to bar the NFLPA from publishing the results of its annual player report cards.

According to results obtained by Kahler, however, Rooney ranked last in the NFL "for willingness to invest in facilities" in the latest edition of the surveys.

The NFLPA also wrote that the Steelers received the worst home field rating in the league "by a wide margin," per Kahler.

"Players cite inadequate maintenance and excessive wear from hosting local college and high school games," the NFLPA said, per Kahler. "Players across the league note the poor condition of the field and emphasize the need for investment to bring it up to standard."

The Steelers share Acrisure Stadium with both the Pitt football team and high school football tournaments.

Sometimes those events take place on back-to-back days, like when Pitt played NC State at Acrisure on Oct. 25 less than 24 hours before a Steelers home game against the Green Bay Packers.

That level of usage has been cited by players criticizing the field. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers called the field "borderline unplayable" after an Oct. 12 game against the Cleveland Browns during which multiple players slipped on the grass, resulting in a missed field goal from kicker Chris Boswell and a non-contact knee injury for special teamer Miles Killebrew.

"I just felt like it got real beat up... I know the field gets a lot of play," Rodgers said after the game, per The Athletic's Mike DeFabo and Zach Powell.

Other aspects of the Steelers' facilities also received poor grades in the leaked NFLPA survey. Players gave the Steelers' locker room an F-minus while citing the availability of just five bathroom stalls for the whole team, per Kahler.

The Steelers ranked 17th in the NFL with an estimated valuation of $6.5 billion as of August 2025, per Forbes. The franchise was estimated by Forbes to be working with an annual revenue of $619 million.