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

18/12/1965
Started for the Astrodome

Ribbon extrusion started for the Astrodome 6 filaments at a time

Houston Astrodome

20/12/1966
Houston Astrodome

AstroTurf installed at Houston AstroDome for baseball and football fields

First outdoor synthetic turf

20/12/1967
First outdoor synthetic turf

First outdoor synthetic turf installations at Indiana State University and Seattle Memorial Stadium

New facility opened

20/12/1968
New facility opened

Astroturf Dalton facility opened

First major league

20/12/1969
First major league

First major league outdoor baseball stadium installed (Chicago White Sox)

First baseball world series

20/12/1970
First baseball world series

First Baseball World Series played on AstroTurf at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium

Astroturf olympic debut

20/12/1976
Astroturf olympic debut

AstroTurf Olympic debut at Molson Stadium (Montreal, Canada).  Olympic Stadium converted to AstroTurf in 5 weeks following games

World Cup Hockey

20/12/1983
World Cup Hockey

Women’s World Cup Hockey played on AstroTurf  

First Elastic Layer systems installed

20/12/1989
First Elastic Layer systems installed

First Elastic Layer (E-Layer®) systems installed at William and Mary and University of California, Berkeley

Polypropylene extruded and texturized monofilament ribbon introduced

20/11/1992
Polypropylene extruded and texturized monofilament ribbon introduced

Polypropylene extruded and texturized monofilament ribbon introduced

AstroTurf surfaces

20/12/1992
AstroTurf surfaces

AstroTurf surfaces used for Barcelona Olympic Games Field Hockey

AstroTurf System 96

20/12/1996
AstroTurf System 96

Atlanta Olympic Field Hockey installs AstroTurf System 96

First Premier League

20/12/1999
First Premier League

First Premier League caliber European soccer club, Real Madrid Club de Futbol, purchases AstroPlay

AstroPlay selected by major European Clubs

20/12/2000
AstroPlay selected by major European Clubs

AstroPlay 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

20/12/2016
AstroTurf & SportGroup

June 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.