Raiders' Mark Davis Explains Support for Grass in NFL Stadiums amid NFLPA Push

Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis discussed his support for grass fields instead of artificial turf in NFL stadiums moving forward.

"It was number one (having grass)," Davis told Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "There was no way I was going to build the stadium or anything else to play on artificial turf. I just always felt that the safety issue, number one, and I grew up around football and the grass and mud and the smell of those uniforms after the game that you knew a football game was played. So, it was very important to me that we had grass."

Multiple NFL stadiums recently hosted 2026 FIFA World Cup matches, with seven venues that traditionally use synthetic turf as their primary playing surface for NFL games switching to grass due to FIFA requirements.

While those stadiums will go back to turf fields for the 2026 NFL season, the NFL Players' Association and stars such as George Kittle, Cam Heyward and Caleb Williams have advocated for the usage of grass fields.

Allegiant Stadium, which is home to the Raiders, uses a sliding tray for its grass field that allows the grass to receive sunlight outside before getting moved into the building for NFL games.