By CHRISTOPHER BAXTER AND MATTHEW STANMYRE
Late in 2006, the CEO and co-founder of FieldTurf — the leading maker of artificial sports fields — urgently emailed a supplier about a new turf being marketed and sold to the public as the best money could buy.
The issue was so pressing, some of the messages went out on New Year’s Eve.
The subject was so troubling, it could cripple both companies.
And the problem was so basic, anyone could understand it: Fields were falling apart before they should.
Ten months later, FieldTurf executives flew to New Jersey to check out the product, known as Duraspine, in one of their most lucrative markets. They discovered more trouble. The turf was breaking apart and lying flat, undermining their own breathless marketing materials that heralded its revolutionary durability.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher. Sales to schools and towns across the country were skyrocketing, and the company was turning big profits off taxpayers. A problem this significant, if people knew, could cost tens of millions in warranty claims and ruin its prized reputation for quality.
So FieldTurf powered on, full steam ahead, keeping customers in the dark even as the Great Recession was forcing communities to cut school programs and lay off teachers and police officers.
All told, from 2005 until Duraspine was discontinued in 2012, records show FieldTurf sold 1,428 of the fields throughout the U.S. — including 164 in New Jersey — for an estimated $570 million in revenue.
https://fieldturf.nj.com/2/
This is the supplier of the Maple Ave Field which was repaired a few years back: https://archive.northjersey.com/towns/ridgewood-repairs-artificial-turf-fields-after-costly-flooding-1.1064553
Can’t say I’m surprised…
But the sports cabal promised!!
VOR CAPEX..DONT Trust claims made by those who will definitely benefit
exclusively .Grass is a prooven element especially for our local sports needs..we don’t need to take on so much risk and expense . Track record
Is there in so many NJ TOWNS of problems and additional costs due floods and storms .Grass comes back with some maintenance and patience .
Washington Twp and HHK have recently defeated turf initiatives. What do they know that we don’t ?
I walked on the field at Maple this morning. The turf looked okay but the surface is as hard as a rock. No give whatsoever.
10:56, grass on fields gets ruined if used after rainfall or a wet snow. As a result, the RHS field was a football shrine, unavailable for other uses. Could we go back to the good old days with a grass field? Is that really practical?
5:36… bad year to rally support against a football shrine.
First time in 50 years we went undefeated and today RHS football became state champs.
8:44 pm – state champs? Give me a break . . . . aren’t there 23 “State Champs” in football? Being a “State Champ” in football in NJ is like getting a trophy for participation. They aren’t even in the top 20 (they’re 24 and, granted, the first 7 are privates. 12 of the top 24 are privates, too. ).
They are only Sectional State champions….
8:44 – Let’s be real. Sectional Champs. Not State Champs. You sound ridiculous claiming that. If you don’t like the criticism, then don’t act so high and mighty. Everyone knows it’s a sham. Well, except you, obviously. Us non-football folks laugh about it all of the time.