FORT WAYNE, Ind., June 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Fort Wayne FC has selected AstroTurf® LigaTurf as the playing surface for Ruoff Mortgage Stadium, the club’s new soccer-specific home and one of the most significant new sports venues in the region. The choice reflects both the club’s rise and the level of performance expected from a stadium built to anchor professional soccer in Northeast Indiana. With the move, Fort Wayne FC is pairing one of the fastest-growing programs in the American game with a surface designed specifically for soccer’s demands.
Founded in 2019, Fort Wayne FC has moved quickly from ambitious startup to professional club. The organization enters its first season in USL League One in 2026 after building a strong pre-professional foundation and winning three straight USL League Two division titles in 2023, 2024, and 2025. That type of sustained success does not happen by accident. It reflects a club that has built momentum on the field, invested in infrastructure off it, and established itself as a serious long-term player in the Midwest soccer landscape. Choosing LigaTurf for the club’s next chapter is a continuation of that same approach, investing in a field system that matches the competitive demands of the professional level.
Ruoff Mortgage Stadium is not just a new address. It is a defining facility for Fort Wayne FC and the broader region. The venue is a soccer-specific stadium at Bass Road and I-69 with 9,200 seats and a potential event-day capacity of more than 11,000. It includes 14 pitch-level suites, premium seating areas, a VIP club room, group hospitality spaces, a beer garden, a fan zone, and a 120′ x 35′ LED videoboard, one of the largest in Indiana. More importantly, it gives Fort Wayne FC a permanent soccer-centered venue built to host professional matches, create a stronger home atmosphere, and establish a new standard for the matchday experience in Northeast Indiana.
The selection of LigaTurf is especially significant because it is not a generic turf solution being adapted for soccer. It is a system built around the needs of the sport itself. LigaTurf is the recommended soccer product and is a system engineered through specialized fiber blends and detailed field construction to deliver the performance the game requires. Its focus is on grass-like ball roll, consistent footing, and the ability to replicate the best playing characteristics of natural grass with less maintenance burdens and weather limitations that often come with it. That makes it particularly well suited to clubs like Fort Wayne FC that need a pitch capable of supporting both daily training and high-level competition in a region where the season and weather can test surface reliability.
“With Ruoff Mortgage Stadium and LigaTurf together, Fort Wayne FC is not just opening a new venue. It is building a stronger foundation for the future of soccer in the city. The club’s rise, the significance of the stadium, and the choice of a soccer-specific AstroTurf system all point to the same conclusion: Fort Wayne FC is preparing to compete at a higher level, and it has chosen a field built to meet that standard.” said Carl Capellas, AstroTurf Director of Soccer (Americas).
Fort Wayne FC’s decision also places Ruoff Mortgage Stadium within a broader pattern of elite soccer organizations choosing AstroTurf systems for major venues and performance environments. LigaTurf has been positioned as one of its premier soccer systems and is part of a global product philosophy built around playability, durability, and consistency. In practical terms, that means a pitch designed to support quick passing, clean first touches, sharp directional play, and a stable athlete experience over the life of the field. For a club making the move into the professional ranks, those details matter. A stadium can only become a true home-field advantage if the playing surface performs at the level the club expects.
AstroTurf® Corporation’s portfolio includes leading brands across every major sports and recreational surfacing category. AstroTurf® created the synthetic turf category and today continues to lead the market as the Official Synthetic Turf of Major League Baseball, with field certifications from FIH, FIFA, & the NFL . The brand will also provide Poligras field hockey turf for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Rekortan® has the most certified tracks in the world and has featured at four Olympic Games. Laykold®, the Official Surface of the US Open, is the world’s premier tennis court surface. SYNLawn® is the industry leader in residential and commercial landscaping solutions. As the original brands in their respective categories, these products have been trusted for more than 50 years and continue to set the standard for quality, performance, and innovation in sports and recreational surfacing.
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