Wikipedia define artificial grass as “a surface of synthetic fiber made to look like natural grass.” Use of the material started with sports fields; however, there is renewed demand for artificial residential turf.
Football stadiums

Of course we are talking about football not soccer that is called football in some countries. Use of artificial grass in football fields in the United States dates back to 1969 when the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania converted its stadium from grass. The first National Football League (NFL) team to use artificial grass turf is also Philadelphia Eagles. Since that time, the New England Patriots in 2006 and 12 other NFL teams have converted their stadiums to artificial turf. Main reasons for this conversion is inclement weather conditions that makes it hard to maintain grass, playability, comparatively cheaper artificial grass cost for maintenance, and ability hold diverse events such as concerts.

Baseball

The Major League Baseball started using in 1966 with the Houston Astrodome replacing its grass with a new kind of fake lawn material called ChemGrass which later became famous as Astro Turf. The memorable moments of the new variety was that groundskeepers dressed as astronauts kept the field vacuumed between innings. The use of fake lawn in baseball fields became increasingly popular since 1970s and to date the pitcher’s mound and batter’s circle are kept in dirt. Even with less artificial grass cost for maintenance, due to various reasons such as player knee issues, further research into fake turf use in baseball fields later resulted in using a newer material called FieldTurf. Due to continuing issues with player complaints and others, most of the National League teams are using natural grass fields.

Soccer in the United States

Similar to Europe, player injuries and perceived aesthetical appeal of fans, the use of artificial grass on soccer fields did not become popular in the United States. As a result FIFA and UEFA have banned the use of artificial turf use for soccer in 1990s. However, there are some renewed interests among world bodies to allow artificial turf with their approval starting with European countries.

Field Hockey

Since 1970s, more field hockey games are played on artificial grass. A shorter fiber structure is used in hockey fields. Field surfaces are changing the nature of the game and more Western countries installing artificial grass fields. Visit Artificial Turf Supply for available products.