Milestones
AstroTurf—it’s one of the most iconic brands in sports.
While everyone recognizes the name, not everyone knows the history.
AstroTurf takes its name from the Houston Astrodome, where it was first used in a professional sports venue in 1965.
More than 50 years later, the AstroTurf organization can look back on many milestones.
Started for the Astrodome
18/12/1965Ribbon extrusion started for the Astrodome 6 filaments at a time
Houston Astrodome
20/12/1966AstroTurf installed at Houston AstroDome for baseball and football fields
First outdoor synthetic turf
20/12/1967First outdoor synthetic turf installations at Indiana State University and Seattle Memorial Stadium
New facility opened
20/12/1968Astroturf Dalton facility opened
First major league
20/12/1969First major league outdoor baseball stadium installed (Chicago White Sox)
First baseball world series
20/12/1970First Baseball World Series played on AstroTurf at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium
Astroturf olympic debut
20/12/1976AstroTurf Olympic debut at Molson Stadium (Montreal, Canada). Olympic Stadium converted to AstroTurf in 5 weeks following games
World Cup Hockey
20/12/1983Women’s World Cup Hockey played on AstroTurf
First Elastic Layer systems installed
20/12/1989First Elastic Layer (E-Layer®) systems installed at William and Mary and University of California, Berkeley
Polypropylene extruded and texturized monofilament ribbon introduced
20/11/1992Polypropylene extruded and texturized monofilament ribbon introduced
AstroTurf surfaces
20/12/1992AstroTurf surfaces used for Barcelona Olympic Games Field Hockey
AstroTurf System 96
20/12/1996Atlanta Olympic Field Hockey installs AstroTurf System 96
First Premier League
20/12/1999First Premier League caliber European soccer club, Real Madrid Club de Futbol, purchases AstroPlay
AstroPlay selected by major European Clubs
20/12/2000AstroPlay selected by major European Clubs, including Manchester United (UK); Real Madrid and Valladolid (Spain); Schalke04 and SSV Ulm (Germany); and Nancy Lorraine (France)
AstroTurf & SportGroup
20/12/2016June 28, 2016 AstroTurf announces it would be bought by SportGroup, a German-based sports surfacing company. The acquisition would form the largest sports surfacing company in the world.