Turf Vs. Grass - Financial

Turf Vs. Grass – Financial

        When comparing artificial turf to grass, money is something that is always taken into consideration. The size of the school can also be a big factor in choosing the appropriate playing surface. Grass and turf may also be dependent upon what sport is being played.

        Natural turf is extremely more expensive for athletic programs to install, compared to having a natural grass playing field. Although, turf tends to pay for itself over time after considering all of the maintenance fees associated with grass that are avoided, it is estimated that in order to keep grass in proper condition for sporting events it cost  about 33,000 dollars per year. This is based on 30 weeks of use and 10 hours per week. Not including the use of practice on it. The math averages out at a cost of 111 dollars per hour of usage. The average cost of synthetic turf to be installed is about 670,000 dollars. This comes to an annual fee of 67,000 dollars per year based on a 10 year note, which is also the expected lifetime of a turf field. With practice included, 30 weeks and 40 hours per week, it cost 61 dollars to use per hour. The cost per hour of the two different playing surfaces is significantly different 2.

A critical factor to consider when purchasing a artificial turf playing surface would be your practice facilities. If a team will be performing on a turf field, it should practice on  turf as well. Some of the benefits of turf are there is much less maintenance and it is always ready to play on no matter what the sporting event is. There are no muddy, sloppy fields or damages from a previous sporting event that took place prior to the event about to be played. This could mean the difference in a win or loss for a football team depending on whether you are an offensively run or pass heavy team. The cost per hour of usage is much less than the cost per hour for grass. It is easy to see and come to the conclusion that economically wise, artificial turf is the best way to go 1.

1.Clarkson, T. (2006). Greener Grass. American School & University, 78(12), 26-28.

2.GAINS, G. L., SWEDENHJIELM, A. N., MAYHEW, J. L., BIRD, H., & HOUSER, J. J. (2010). COMPARISON OF SPEED AND AGILITY PERFORMANCE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS ON FIELD TURF AND NATURAL GRASS. Journal Of Strength & Conditioning Research (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins), 24(10), 2613-2617.