It was the first specifically designed for American football, with a patented layered structure which included a "shock pad" between the artificial grass and the asphalt sub-surface.
[2][3][4] In the late 1960s, the natural grass surface at the Orange Bowl in Miami was constantly in poor condition,[5] primarily due to heavy usage; 34 games were scheduled there during the 1968 football season.
The University of Nebraska Cornhuskers won the first three Orange Bowl games played on Poly-Turf, which included two national championships.
[14][22] The city removed the Poly-Turf in 1976 and re-installed natural grass, a special type known as Prescription Athletic Turf (PAT),[23][24][25] which remained until the stadium's closure in early 2008.
As late as December 1975, the city had planned to retain the Poly-Turf for the 1976 season,[23] but that decision was changed a few weeks later, prior to the Super Bowl.