FieldTurf

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The wide plain of FieldTurf used at Toronto's Rogers Centre was installed after the 2004 baseball season.
The wide plain of FieldTurf used at Toronto's Rogers Centre was installed after the 2004 baseball season.

FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of Tarkett Inc., is a Montreal-based company that installs artificial turf playing surfaces identified by the FieldTurf trademark.

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FieldTurf is an artificial turf composed of monofilament polyethylene blend fibres tufted into a polypropylene backing with a mixture of silica sand and cryogenic rubber infill. FieldTurf was patented in 1982.

In 2007, FieldTurf Tarkett introduced a refined type of their artificial turf called FieldTurf Duo. It was installed in Tropicana Field for use by the Tampa Bay Rays.

FieldTurf claims Southwest Recreational Industries (SRI), the former manufacturer of AstroTurf, allegedly duplicated the FieldTurf product and attempted to sue SRI for patent infringement. FieldTurf lost the suit for lack of evidence in 2002,[1] and in late 2003 was ordered to reimburse Southwest Recreational Industries for approximately $4.3 million in legal expenses.[2]

Following the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s affirmation of SRI Sports’ November, 2000 verdict against FieldTurf, FieldTurf paid SRI Sports $1,195,000 in September, 2002. The November, 2000 verdict arose from a jury’s finding that FieldTurf was guilty of false advertising and breach of contract. In conjunction with the November, 2000 trial, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas found that FieldTurf and its CEO John Gilman acted in bad faith and engaged in conduct that was intended to prevent a fair trial and constituted obstruction of justice in a Federal Court proceeding.[3]

In 1999, the Metropolitan Oval, a soccer complex in New York City, was one of the first to install FieldTurf in the USA.

In 1999, Nebraska installed FieldTurf in Memorial Stadium. In 2006, Nebraska installed new FieldTurf that alternates between two shades of green every five yards.

Nevada installed FieldTurf at its Mackay Stadium in 2000. The playing surface had been natural grass for 34 seasons.

In 2000, FieldTurf was installed in the Washington's Husky Stadium, replacing the astroturf surface, the original installed in 1968. Husky Stadium was used as the Seattle Seahawks home field from 2000-2001, following the demolition of the Kingdome in March 2000. This would be the first FieldTurf used in the NFL. FieldTurf was also installed at Qwest Field (originally Seahawks Stadium) in 2002.[1] The original plans called for a natural grass field at the new stadium, but due to the favorable reactions from players while playing at Husky Stadium, the Seahawks had FieldTurf installed instead.

Washington State installed FieldTurf at its Martin Stadium in 2000. The playing surface had been sand-filled Omni-Turf for 10 seasons, preceded by astroturf, first installed in 1972.

The University of Oregon installed NexTurf in Autzen Stadium in 2001 but the surface did not perform as expected and during remodeling in 2002 it was removed and replaced with FieldTurf.

Colorado State installed FieldTurf at its Hughes Stadium in 2006. The playing surface had been natural grass for 38 seasons.

Several UK teams have installed it as a training pitch, but as of October 2006, only one club (Hamilton Academical F.C.) uses FieldTurf (installed in 2004) for their first-team matches.[citation needed] In 2005, Saprissa Stadium in San José, Costa Rica became the first stadium to host a FIFA World Cup qualifying match on FieldTurf.

The New England Patriots installed FieldTurf midway into the 2006 NFL season.[4] The installation was made during a week when the team was on the road.

As of 2007, seven of the eight Canadian Football League teams have installed either FieldTurf or a similar surface, as well as approximately half of National Football League venues as well as several Major League Baseball stadiums (List of FieldTurf installations).

Super Bowl XL, featuring the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the first time that the Super Bowl has been played on FieldTurf. The Ford Field installation differs slightly from the standard installation as the recycled rubber used is made from Firestone tires.[5]

In 2004, Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, NJ features FieldTurf where the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team plays.

In September 2006, several top Canadian soccer players appealed to the Canadian Soccer Association to install a natural grass surface at BMO Field in Toronto.[6] The Association has, however, decided to install FieldTurf despite the players' request.

In addition, following David Beckham's move to Major League Soccer in 2007, in which he arrived carrying an ankle injury,[7] he voiced his opinion that the league should convert to grass for all pitches, specifically singling out the FieldTurf brand[8][9] (which he later recanted[10]), while outsiders suggested that the FieldTurf pitch at Toronto had been a factor in his decision to instead sign with another team (he signed with the LA Galaxy).

During a telephone interview on David Beckham's Soccer USA (UK version), former Aston Villa and current Red Bull New York striker Juan Pablo Angel criticized the surface, saying, "I find it really hard to adjust to the [Giants Stadium] turf field... it takes me two or three days just to recover [after a match]."[11]

New England Revolution manager Steve Nichol is quoted as saying "there is no give in [FieldTurf]. Grass is still the best surface," [12] in regards to professional soccer matches.

Gary O'Connor, current Birmingham City and Scotland striker, has recently spoken out against the FieldTurf surface at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, which hosted the England-Russia Euro 2008 qualifier on 17 October 2007. After a short summer term at Lokomotiv Moscow, O'Connor described playing on the FieldTurf surface as "a nightmare" and a "misfortune".[13] He noted the effects of the artificial surface during the run of play, saying, "The ball skids off the surface, so it becomes extremely hard to read where it is going to go."

In 2007, a Connecticut non-profit organization Environmental and Human Health Inc. (EHHI), released a report about the safety of recycled tire crumb rubber in artificial turf.[14] EHHI funded a study by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, a state agency, which independently reported[15] that under laboratory conditions when the crumb rubber infill was heated to over 100 degrees celsius, four components of crumb rubber volatilize into the vapor phase (outgas) in water in contact with the crumbs: benzothiazole (an irritant), butylated hydroxyanisole (a carcinogen and toxicant), n-hexadecane (an irritant) and 4-(t-octyl) phenol (corrosive to mucus membranes, a suspected endocrine disruptor[16]). Since no measurable amount of these dangerous chemicals were released until the rubber was heated above 100 degrees celsius (the boiling point of water) it can be concluded from the study that no harmful chemicals would be released from the crumb rubber under normal field conditions. FieldTurf, ALIAPUR (a French consortium founded by tire makers Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop Goodyear, Kléber, Michelin and Pirelli)[17], and ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency) released their own joint report concluding that there was no cause for concern to human health by inhalation of volatile organic compounds and aldehydes released by recycled tire crumb rubber surfaces.[18]

  1. ^ SRI (11/26/2002). Score Another Victory for SRI Sports, Inc. - Judge Dismisses FieldTurf Lawsuit. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  2. ^ SRI Sports to be reimbursed for legal expenses. Austin Business Journal (11/28/2003). Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  3. ^ SRI (11/26/2002). Score Another Victory for SRI Sports, Inc. - Judge Dismisses FieldTurf Lawsuit. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
  4. ^ Perillo, Paul (2006-11-14). Pats to install FieldTurf for Bears game. Patriots Football Weekly. New England Patriots. Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
  5. ^ Ford Field, Detroit Lions. Sportsvenue Technology (24 August 2002). Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  6. ^ "Don't use artificial grass in Toronto FC stadium: players", globeandmail.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-12. 
  7. ^ "Beckham hopes to play against DC", BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-08-09. 
  8. ^ "Beckham apologizes for turf remarks", USA Today. Retrieved on 2007-10-06. 
  9. ^ "Beckham Speaks", Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-10-06. 
  10. ^ "Beckham sorry for grass gaffe", 24 Sport. Retrieved on 2007-10-06. 
  11. ^ "David Beckham's Soccer USA (UK version), Week 7", YouTube. Retrieved on 2007-10-06. 
  12. ^ "Artificial turf not to Beckham's liking", ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved on 2007-10-06. 
  13. ^ "O'connor warns England over plastic pitch", ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved on 2007-10-14. 
  14. ^ Dr. David R. Brown (2007). "Artificial Turf: Exposures To Ground-Up Rubber Tires: Athletic Fields, Playgrounds, Gardening Mulch" (pdf). Environment & Human Health, Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
  15. ^ Mattina, MaryJane Incorvia; Isleyen, M. & Berger, W. et al. (8/2007), Examination of Crumb Rubber Produced from Recycled Tires, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, AC006, <http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/publications/fact_sheets/examinationofcrumbrubberac005.pdf>. Retrieved on 2007-10-26
  16. ^ Commission of the European Communities (2001), Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the implementation of the Community Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters - a range of substances suspected of interfering with the hormone systems of humans and wildlife, COM(2001) 262 final, <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2001/com2001_0262en01.pdf>. Retrieved on 2007-10-27
  17. ^ Qui est Aliapur?. Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
  18. ^ Dr. Robert Moretto (2007), Environmental and health assessment of the use of elastomer granulates (virgin and from used tyres) as filling in third-generation artificial turf, ADME / ALIAPUR / FieldTurf Tarkett, <http://www.aliapur.fr/media/files/etudes_documents/Environmental_Study_Report_EN.pdf>. Retrieved on 2007-10-26

FieldTurf comments at post-match press conference on 8/9/07]

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