MLS GETS ITS FIRST UPGRADE TO LED STADIUM LIGHTING

led soccer stadium lighting

The StubHub Arena, which is the outdoor sports facility where the LA Galaxy plays its home games, in July 2016 became the first MLS soccer arena to transition to LED field lighting. LED lighting systems have long been recognized as ideal for both indoor and outdoor sports arenas. Professional football, basketball, and hockey arenas in North America have all begun to transition to LED lighting systems. The Galaxy’s home field is the first dedicated soccer arena to adopt LED lighting for soccer.

LED Stadium Lighting for Soccer

Operators of sports arenas generally cite two reasons for the transition to LED lighting in sports: improved playing and viewing experiences for athletes and fans, and substantial cost savings with more efficient and economic lighting systems. From an athlete’s perspective, LED lighting provides more natural illumination to playing surfaces. Professional athletes often develop their skills to respond with split-second accuracy to subtle movements from other players. LED lighting gives all athletes a better chance to see those movements, thus improving the overall quality of play. Spectators also appreciate better illumination that allows them to see the action more clearly.

LED Stadium Lighting technology also improves the viewing experience for fans who watch televised broadcasts of athletic contests. Given the revenues that athletic clubs derive from broadcast rights, better broadcasts will lead to greater viewing audiences and more revenues from those broadcasts. LED lighting is particularly well-suited for detailed slow-motion replays without any flicker or picture distortion.

Fans and players have noticed differences between the quality of play during games played during daylight hours and evening games that require artificial lighting. This difference has been noticed in soccer as well as football and baseball. LED lighting better matches natural daylight illumination and reduces and advantage or disadvantages that any sports clubs might have when its matches are played under one or the other set of conditions.    

Soccer Stadium Lighting LED

Energy Efficiency for Sports Stadiums

From a cost-savings perspective, LED lighting has experienced significant improvements in energy efficiency over the past several years. The operators of the LA Galaxy’s StubHub Arena expect to use 60% less energy to illuminate the playing field. That energy savings will translate into lower operating costs and better net profits. Current generation LED light fixtures also have a useful life expectancy of more than 100,000 hours, which will reduce maintenance and replacement costs. Unlike traditional metal halide or high-pressure sodium fixtures that can require a ten- to twenty-minute warmup period before coming to full power, LED lights reach their maximum luminosity almost immediately after being powered up. Football fans will recall a Super Bowl that was delayed by more than thirty minutes when a lighting circuit failed and left the playing field in the dark. Much of that delay was caused by the warmup time that was needed to bring the lights back to full illumination. With LED lights, the LA Galaxy will never need to worry about this type of lengthy delay in any of its home soccer matches.

The versatility of the arena’s LED lighting will also allow the facility to be used for events other than soccer games, including concerts and other stadium-specific events. Cities and sports clubs are often reluctant to commit the resources to build a dedicated sports facility that will be used for only a limited number of events over a small number of days. LED lighting will add to the versatility of the StubHub Arena and provide greater returns for its operators as they make it available for events other than soccer games.

ZOKIN LED is a domestic manufacturer of LED lighting solutions for several different applications, including for lighting of sports playing fields and arenas. Please see our website or call us at +86 138 2870 7813 for more information about our sports lighting products, or to speak with one of our consultants about how our products can improve the quality of play and reduce operating costs at your sports facility.