An important aspect of facility management is the development of a comprehensive risk management plan. Player safety has only recently been a consideration when developing a risk management plan. Field conditions have not received much attention as it relates to player safety. Several injuries at Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia raised questions about the playing surface being the cause. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of established athletic field agronomic measures to predict injuries from football fields and soccer pitches. Logistic regression was used to predict injury based upon soil compaction, soil moisture, surface firmness, and turfgrass quality. Results indicate that athletic fields that met good standards had the lowest probability of injury and injury probability is the highest when field conditions are considered poor. These results provide parameters facility and athletic field managers can use to determine whether an athletic field demonstrates a low risk of injury, needs to be improved, or a game should be canceled. When managing all levels of events, it is important to include a risk management plan to mitigate potential liabilities. One definition of risk management is a proactive process involving an assessment of all possible risks associated with an event and anticipating, preventing, minimizing, and planning responses to mitigate said risks (Leopkey & Parent, 2009). Consequently, facility managers will develop a risk management plan to mitigate any existing and potential risks. Part of this risk management plan should involve ways to limit the possibility of spectator injury, which would include putting warnings on the back of tickets or posting signs around the facility warning of specific dangers. While facility managers correctly are concerned with spectator safety, this same danger of injury extends to the players as well. There have been many recent moves to protect players from injuries (e.g., addressing concussion concerns within football), but there has been minimal focus on the role of field conditions as it relates to player safety, especially when it comes to natural grass fields. What needs further examination is the role field conditions play as it relates to player safety and how the league and facility managers can use that information to make decisions related to playing, postponing to later in the day, or canceling games.
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