athletic field vs playing field

athletic field and playing field both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
athletic field	Yes	No	No	No
playing field	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, athletic field and playing field are synonyms defined as:

athletic field and playing field: a piece of land prepared for playing a game

Other synonyms of athletic field include field, playing area.

athletic field (noun)	playing field (noun)
a piece of land prepared for playing a game	a piece of land prepared for playing a game
	the circumstances under which competition occurs