On Friday, Nov. 10 2006, Sportexe, an industry leader in synthetic turf systems, again created international buzz with a Forbes Magazine feature on what was referred to as "Turf TV".

The patented-product featured in the article fuses fiber optic technology with synthetic grass blades to create a virtual computer screen with interactive capabilities out of a normal playing surface. The purpose of "Turf TV" is to allow a trained field technician to manipulate light to instantly make changes to field markers, team logos and color schemes. Other possibilities include player tracking, instant replay and advertisement commercial viewing. The Endorsement revenue opportunities generated from on-field advertisements will be limitless.

"All these things are possible and realistic," said Sportexe CEO and President Mark Nicholls. "We have working prototypes and some of the best minds in the industry making this a reality."

Television brought the football field into the home. Now it's TV that's inside the field. Sportexe, a synthetic turf maker co-owned by former NFL honcho Art Modell, has created a playing surface that fuses fiber optics with synthetic turf. The result: an electronic field that projects stats, first-down markers, logos and video images just like your TV does.

"It can even show footfalls, so officials can tell if a player went out of bounds or not," says Sportexe CEO Mark Nicholls.

A few strokes on a keyboard can flip the field configuration from a gridiron to a soccer pitch, or swap logos when teams share the same stadium. At $1.5 million, the techie turf is about three times as pricy as a standard artificial field, but owners can recoup the cost by saving on maintenance (no lines or logos to paint) and by charging for on-the-grass advertising.

The downside? No remotes for the fans.

** Originally published in the February issue of ESPN Magazine.

Sportexe, which has installations in the New Orleans Superdome and the Baltimore Ravens' M&T Bank Stadium, recently made international headlines after receiving the only FIFA 2-Star RECOMMENDED field in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) from world soccer governing body FIFA.

"This is a very exciting time for Sportexe," said Nicholls. "It is an honor to be featured in Forbes. We waited four years in silence developing the technology and waiting for the patent before we would talk to anyone and risk losing our idea and it has been two years since received our patent on this.

"Turf TV" has been in development for five years and has yet to receive a release date for commercialization.