Experts sound off on failed grass field at new Bills stadium

Published September 4, 2026 01:55 PM Carl Spackler is having his day.With the Bills ripping up the grass at their new stadium after only two preseason games and installing a new one for the regular-season home opener, various grass experts have sounded off. Tim Graham of The Athletic has collected and published their comments.The legendary George Toma said this as to the failed field: “That hurts me. That’s terrible to happen at all, but so soon? Somebody fell asleep.”Another “award-winning sports agronomist” with extensive experience installing pro and college surfaces, but who requested anonymity for apparent fear of Big Sod, said that it was “the worst sod I’ve seen in the NFL in my career. I can’t even imagine how that could have happened.”Added Tony Dick, sports management professor at Baldwin Wallace University and former Cleveland Browns assistant head groundskeeper: "[N]atural turf is safer in a perfect setting. But if you have the situation like you have in Buffalo — and I went back and watched the film — you cannot tell me that field was safer than the artificial turf they just left. . . . I’m never putting Josh Allen on a field in that condition.” The Bills had this to say about the issue, via Graham: “We have consulted with the NFL and an independent expert who works with multiple NFL teams. These consultants recommended utilizing this three-week window before the home opener to install the sod. The NFL inspects every field and determines whether it meets league standards. We are confident that they are the appropriate group to ensure the field performs at the necessary level.”Still, the unnamed agronomist is skeptical. “They will have a difficult time,” he said. “There’s so much going wrong, and there’s so little time. If that field makes it through the second game, I’ll be shocked.”Professor Dick offered a prediction: “You might have artificial turf back in there within three years, just because it’s safer than whatever that was.”The first test of Sod 2.0 is only 13 days away. That’s when the Bills host the Lions, the first of three Buffalo games in three weekends.