23 Facts About Artificial turf

Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass.

Artificial turf does have its downside, however: limited life, periodic cleaning requirements, petroleum use, toxic chemicals from infill, and heightened health and safety concerns.

Artificial turf first gained substantial attention in 1966, when it was installed in the year-old Astrodome.

Artificial turf was first installed in 1964 on a recreation area at the Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island.

Artificial turf was first used in Major League Baseball in the Houston Astrodome in 1966, replacing the grass field used when the stadium opened a year earlier.

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Artificial turf was later installed in other new multi-purpose stadiums such as Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium, Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, and Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium.

Biggest difference in play on artificial turf was that the ball bounced higher than on real grass and traveled faster, causing infielders to play farther back than they would normally so that they would have sufficient time to react.

Players complained that the Artificial turf was much hotter than grass, sometimes causing the metal spikes to burn their feet or plastic ones to melt.

All other remaining artificial turf stadiums were either converted to third-generation surfaces or were replaced entirely by new natural grass stadiums.

In 2020, Miami's Marlins Park switched to artificial turf for similar reasons, while the Texas Rangers' new Globe Life Field was opened with an artificial surface, as it too is a retractable roof ballpark in a hot weather city; this puts the number of teams using synthetic turf in MLB at five as of 2021.

Artificial turf pitches were banned from top-flight football in 1991, forcing Oldham Athletic to remove their artificial pitch after their promotion to the First Division in 1991, while then top-flight Luton Town removed their artificial pitch at the same time.

Artificial turf gained a bad reputation on both sides of the Atlantic with fans and especially with players.

The first-generation artificial turf surfaces were carpet-like in their look and feel, and thusly, a far harder surface than grass and soon became known as an unforgiving playing surface that was prone to cause more injuries, and in particular, more serious joint injuries, than would comparatively be suffered on a grass surface.

The use of artificial turf was later banned by FIFA, UEFA and by many domestic football associations, though, in recent years, both governing bodies have expressed resurrected interest in the use of artificial surfaces in competition, provided that they are FIFA Recommended.

In 2010, Estadio Omnilife with an artificial turf opened in Guadalajara to be the new home of Chivas, one of the most popular teams in Mexico.

Artificial turf pitches are permitted in all rounds of the FA Cup competition.

Synthetic Artificial turf can be used in the golf industry, such as on driving ranges, putting greens and even in some circumstances tee boxes.

Artificial turf grass is used to line the perimeter of some sections of some motor circuits, and offers less grip than some other surfaces.

New water saving programs, as of 2019, which grant rebates for turf removal, do not accept artificial turf as replacement and require a minimum of plants.

Some artificial turf systems allow for the integration of fiber-optic fibers into the turf.

Artificial turf has been shown to contribute to global warming by absorbing significantly more radiation than living turf and, to a lesser extent, by displacing living plants that could sequester carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.

Artificial turf tends to retain heat from the sun and can be much hotter than natural grass with prolonged exposure to the sun.

Artificial turf is a harder surface than grass and does not have much "give" when forces are placed on it.