AstroTurf

Last updated
AstroTurf
Company type Subsidiary
Founded1964;60 years ago (1964)
Headquarters,
Key people
  • Heard Smith (CEO)
  • Philip Snider (COO)
OwnerEquistone Partners Europe
Parent SportGroup
Website AstroTurf.com
Footnotes /references
[1]

AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. [2] Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has marketed taller pile systems that use infill materials to better replicate natural turf. [3] In 2016, AstroTurf became a subsidiary of German-based SportGroup, a family of sports surfacing companies, which itself is owned by the investment firm Equistone Partners Europe. [1] [4]

Contents

History

Close-up of astroturf Green (astroturf) - Flickr - jakerome.jpg
Close-up of astroturf

The original AstroTurf brand product was invented by James M. Faria and Robert T. Wright at Monsanto. The original, experimental installation was inside the Waughhtel-Howe Field House at the Moses Brown School in Providence, 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 the Houston 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 texturized nylon 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 in Dalton, 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-pile polyethylene 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 James russell washington state.jpg
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]

In August 2021, AstroTurf became the official supplier of artificial turf to the United Soccer League, who run soccer leagues at the second, third, and fourth tiers of the U.S. men's soccer pyramid and the second tier of the U.S. women's soccer pyramid. [16]

1960s

AstroTurf (pictured in the outfield) inside the Houston Astrodome during a June 7, 1969, contest between the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals Astrodome scoreboard 1969.jpg
AstroTurf (pictured in the outfield) inside the Houston Astrodome during a June 7, 1969, contest between the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals

1964

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970s

AstroTurf installed at Busch Stadium in St. Louis (photo taken in 1975) LouBrockstealing.jpg
AstroTurf installed at Busch Stadium in St. Louis (photo taken in 1975)
Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin playing on AstroTurf at Riverfront Stadium, October 1990 Barry Larkin playing for Cincinnati in Riverfront Stadium in 1990.jpg
Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin playing on AstroTurf at Riverfront Stadium, October 1990
The Indianapolis Colts lining up for a play (on AstroTurf) against the Green Bay Packers in 2004 at the RCA Dome Manningcoltspackers2004.jpg
The Indianapolis Colts lining up for a play (on AstroTurf) against the Green Bay Packers in 2004 at the RCA Dome

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1980s

1980

1984

1985

1987

1989

1990s

1993

1999

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References

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  2. Faria, James M. and Wright, Robert T. (1965) "Monofilament ribbon pile product" U.S. patent 3,332,828 assigned to Monsanto
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