With thousands of sports fields installed each year throughout the world, the synthetic turf industry has gained acceptance due to the benefits of longer playing hours, maintenance savings and all-weather playability. Buyer demands have also increased with trends towards replicating natural grass in more ways than just appearance or shock absorption.
FIFA, as the world’s governing body of soccer, has led this trend internationally with its significant investments in natural grass and artificial turf research. FIFA utilizes natural grass benchmarks in areas including foot stability, traction, and ball interaction to create its synthetic turf standards. These benchmarks have led to safer, better performing synthetic turf fields. As North American buyers seek similar benchmarks for American Football, additional research has been needed to also understand the relationship of international synthetic turf standards as established by FIFA and a top natural grass field for American Football.
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