AstroTurf is an Americansubsidiary of SportGroup that producesartificial turf forplaying surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was ashort-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 byMonsanto.[2] Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has marketed taller pile systems that useinfill materials to better replicatenatural turf.[3] In 2016, AstroTurf became a subsidiary ofGerman-based SportGroup, a family of sports surfacing companies, which itself is owned by the investment firm Equistone Partners Europe.[1][4]
The original AstroTurf brand product was invented by James M. Faria and Robert T. Wright atMonsanto. The original, experimental installation was inside the Waughhtel-Howe Field House at theMoses Brown School inProvidence, Rhode Island, in 1964.[5] It was patented in 1965 and originally sold under the name "ChemGrass." It was rebranded as AstroTurf by company employee John A. Wortmann after its first well-publicized use at theHouston Astrodome stadium in 1966.[6] Donald L. Elbert patented two methods to improve the product in 1971.[7][8]
Early iterations of the short-pile turf swept many major stadiums, but the product did need improvement. Concerns over directionality and traction led Monsanto's R&D department to implement a texturizednylon system. By imparting a crimped texture to the nylon after it was extruded, the product became highly uniform.
In 1987, Monsanto consolidated its AstroTurf management, marketing, and technical activities inDalton, Georgia, as AstroTurf Industries, Inc. In 1988, Balsam AG purchased all the capital stock of AstroTurf Industries, Inc. In 1994, Southwest Recreational Industries, Inc. (SRI) acquired the AstroTurf brand. In 1996, SRI was acquired by American Sports Products Group Inc.
While AstroTurf was the industry leader throughout the late 20th century, other companies emerged in the early 2000s.FieldTurf, AstroTurf's chief competitor since the early 2000s, marketed a product of tall-pilepolyethylene turf with infill, meant to mimic natural grass more than the older products. This third-generation turf, as it became known, changed the landscape of the marketplace. Although SRI successfully marketed AstroPlay, a third-generation turf product, increased competition gave way to lawsuits. In 2000, SRI was awarded $1.5 million in a lawsuit after FieldTurf was deemed to have lied to the public by making false statements regarding its own product and making false claims about AstroTurf and AstroPlay products.[9]
UFCU Disch–Falk Field in Texas, utilizing an older-style AstroTurf surface that has since been replaced
Despite their legal victory, increased competition took its toll. In 2004, SRI declared bankruptcy.[10] Out of the bankruptcy proceedings, Textile Management Associates, Inc. (TMA) of Dalton, Georgia, acquired the AstroTurf brand and other assets. TMA began marketing the AstroTurf brand under the company AstroTurf, LLC. In 2006, General Sports Venue (GSV) became TMA's marketing partner for the AstroTurf brand for the American market. AstroTurf, LLC handled the marketing of AstroTurf in the rest of the world.[11]
In 2009, TMA acquired GSV to enter the marketplace as a direct seller. AstroTurf, LLC focused its efforts on research and development, which has promoted rapid growth. AstroTurf introduced new product features and installation methods, including AstroFlect (a heat-reduction technology)[12] and field prefabrication (indoor, climate-controlled inlaying).[13] AstroTurf also introduced a product called "RootZone" consisting of crimped fibers designed to encapsulate infill.[14]
In 2016, SportGroup Holding announced that it would purchase AstroTurf, along with its associated manufacturing facilities. The AstroTurf brand has operated since then in North America as AstroTurf Corporation.[15]
First major installation of AstroTurf (ChemGrass) at theHouston Astrodome indoor stadium for theHouston Astros. The infield portion was in place before opening day in April; the outfield was installed in early summer.
First college football game on artificial turf is played Sept. 23 in the Astrodome,Houston vs.Washington State.
The backyard ofThe Brady Bunch house between the service porch and garage and underTiger's kennel is covered with AstroTurf. According to script development notes, the installation firm hired byMike Brady to lay the turf was owned by his college roommate, who had just started a landscaping business after returning from a combat tour in theVietnam War with the18th Engineer Brigade. In keeping with studio instructions, no direct mention of the war in Vietnam appeared in the script. The scene in which the installation takes place was ultimately cut, so never appeared in the series.[21][22][23]
The1970 World Series is the first with games on AstroTurf (previously installed at Cincinnati'sRiverfront Stadium), as the Reds play the Baltimore Orioles.[24]
TheBuffalo Bills' home field ofRich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium, and then Highmark Stadium) opens in Orchard Park, New York, with an AstroTurf playing surface.
The1993 World Series, between the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays, was the fourth World Series to be played entirely on artificial turf, following those in1980,1985, and1987.
1999
Real Madrid C.F. (Spain) becomes the first European football club to purchase an AstroTurf system for their practice fields.[29]
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