Thanks to the wonderful invention known as artificial grass, indoor sports arenas are able to have a playing surface that’s similar to the natural grass that would be used when playing outdoors, at a much lower cost. While it is certainly possible to have a natural grass playing field indoors, the cost of maintenance is much too high to make it worthwhile for most stadiums. Indeed, fake grass is so much less expensive and easier to maintain that there are teams who have switched to using it for outdoor playing surfaces as well. This is especially true when it comes to teams who play in frostier climates, including some major stadiums in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati.
These days, artificial grass turf is a popular choice for football and baseball fields and stadiums located across the United States and Canada. But how did this material come to be? Many people would say that the accomplishment of developing a successful artificial turf falls to one man in particular: David Chaney. A resident of North Carolina who eventually served as the dean for the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University, Chaney was in charge of the group of RTP researchers that were responsible for developing the first noteworthy artificial grass surface. The popular magazine Sports Illustrated certainly made sure that he received credit for this accomplishment, declaring him to be the man responsible for the viability of playing major league baseball in indoor stadiums, as well as “millions of welcome mats”.
