Chris Thornton loves talking about playing basketball on the most fragile-sounding of surfaces: glass. Thornton is managing director of the Americas division of ASB GlassFloor, a German company building floors made of fused-together layers of safety glass covering LED panels. The courts are a far more dynamic visual feast, with customized playing lines, logos, colors, animated graphics, and ads. In basketball, where wood is still king, Thornton sees growth potential for glass courts—already showing up in the NBA and internationally—as a tech-driven alternative to the sport's long-running hardwood foundation.
It seems strange at first: big, strong athletes jumping and running across a court of glass while "pounding the rock" and even diving on the floor. That's a future that ASB GlassFloor envisions, citing tech improvements allowing for a safe, viable surface featuring stunning visuals that can be changed with a few swipes and taps of a smartphone app. Thornton said the glass surface has give and flexibility exceeding that of wood, aided by a spring-action design to the aluminum and steel framing beneath the LED paneling. There's also a ceramic coating with dots etched into the glass, offering grip, and a consistent surface without "dead spots" or other quirks that occur with wood courts.
That combination has the company touting enhanced safety potential—even in more easily spotting sweat to wipe up. The visuals are a big selling point, too. Arena managers could easily update a court's look instead of using space-hogging hardwood stacks for multiple designs and paying for labor to install them. The trade-off? A bigger price tag than wood.
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Glass LED courts are already in home arenas for Bayern Munich in Germany and Panathinaikos Athens in Greece and have been used in events by governing body FIBA. In the US, Kentucky used one in October for its "Big Blue Madness" event, while the NBA offered a showcase look during 2024's NBA All-Star weekend, holding some events on a glass floor in Indianapolis. "I don't know what I was expecting, but it squeaks like a real basketball court," women's player Cassidy Rowe said in an ASB GlassFloor video. Of his company's endeavor, Thornton said, "I use this analogy a lot: We're at the initial stages of the iPhone being launched." More here.
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