A playing field is a field used for playing sports or games. They are generally outdoors, but many large structures exist to enclose playing fields from bad weather. Generally, playing fields are wide expanses of grass, dirt or sand without many obstructions. More recently, some types of fields have begun using a synthetic grass-like material called AstroTurf, but its use is often controversial. Today a lot of fields have Next Turf, ProGreen or Field Turf. These Turfs are filled with rubber and/or sand.

There are a variety of different commonly used fields, including

• the cricket field containing the cricket pitch,
• the baseball field,
• and the American football field
• courts: tennis court, volleyball court, basketball court
• Football (Soccer) pitch

Metaphorically, a playing field refers to any place or context within which competitive activity takes place, most often economic competition between companies. A metaphorical playing field is said to be level if no external interference such as government regulations affects the ability of the players to compete fairly. See Free Trade.

The term is also used for collectable card games, where it refers to the area that the cards are placed during gameplay.