Stadium Sports Field Lighting

Stadium athletic field lighting must be installed with several objectives simultaneously in mind. Players must be able to see the ball in play and view the field without shadows or glare impeding visibility. Spectators should be able to look down from the bleachers and see colors clearly and watch the movement of the ball smoothly and continuously. If too few stadium lights are installed, footcandles will be too low to evenly light the vertical cube within the stadium, and the ball will appear to jump from point to point in mid-air. As easy as it may sound to try to resolve this issue simply by installing a larger number of lights, stadiums systems must be planned a bit more carefully than this. Dark Sky laws strictly prohibit light spillage into surrounding neighborhoods now exist in almost every part of the country. Stadium lighting systems must target the light in such a way that it only illuminates desired areas within the stadium and does not generate wasted spill light that will annoy nearby residents and business owners.

The type of stadium lights installed depends greatly upon the skill level of the players and the number of spectators. The greater the number of spectators, the greater the distance they tend to be seated away from the field and the players. This means the lights must brighter and also more precisely aimed in order to minimize glare and light pollution. Many times a facility hosts different types of sports in the same facility, so this can further complicate the demands on the contractor installing a system for multiple events and different sized crowds. By working with RLLD Commercial Lighting experts, measurements of the facility, its annual usage reports, and the general sizes of crowds attending different events can all be factored efficiently into determining the necessary levels of lighting for a small or mid-sized stadium of any size.

With the exception of large professional baseball stadiums beyond the scope of this article, there are only two classifications out of the industry standard four with which we need to concern ourselves: Class 2 Stadium Lighting and Class 3 Stadium Lighting. Class 2 lighting involves illuminating a field containing up to 5,000 spectators. Class 3 addresses the dynamics of lighting stadiums for much smaller crowds, such as those seen at intramural college games and local amateur league games. Class 4 sports lighting really doesnʼt fall into the category of stadium lighting, because it involves recreational and practice fields with limited seating, if any.

With all this to factor into the equation, it is important for even trained professionals to avail themselves of the complimentary consulting and design services offered by RLLD Commercial Lighting. Particularly in respect to environmental concerns, the many codes and regulations that govern light pollution in a given city, town, or county may significantly impact a contractorʼs selection of stadium light fixtures and poles. Saving a step on laborious data mining and cross-referencing local legal requirements to technical features saves time and money in equipment selection, proposal preparation, and installation.

By utilizing our online and phone-based resources, you can very quickly and accurately determine the number of poles you need, the optics required for the correct dispersion of light, luminance levels, and the physical number and mounting heights of the fixtures themselves. Metal halide lamps are the industry standard for stadium lighting systems because they produce a very bright white light that renders color at a near equivalence to natural light. RLLD Commercial Lighting poles can be wooden, steel, or concrete and are available in a variety of heights and degrees of decorative aesthetics. Although stainless steel poles are the most common at this point, many facilities are beginning to replace them with centrifugally spun concrete poles.
Again, it is best to confer with an RLLD Commercial lighting expert when selecting stadium lighting poles. Our team has detailed wind load charts on every region of the country and can inform DIY electrical installers and lighting specialists of all EPA regulatory codes pertaining to a particular poles wind resistance capacity.

RLLD Commercial Lighting carries a wide variety of industrial, commercial and athletic sports field lighting fixtures. Here is a partial lighting of some of those lighting fixture packages:

• Tennis Court Lighting
• Skateboard Park Lighting
• Football Field Lighting
• Polo Field Lighting

If you can not find a lighting case study you are looking for call us toll free at 1-866-654-3961 and we will find it for you. Our home office is located in Houston, Texas with warehouses located throughout the United States that enable us to service all 50 states including San Juan, PR (SJU), Isla De Vieques, PR (VQS), Fajardo, PR (X95), Erie, PA (ERI), Killeen, TX (ILE), Sheridan, WY (SHR), Casper, WY (CPR), Parkersburg, WV (PKB), and Escanaba, MI (ESC). We also service clients internationally, with lighting manufacturer representatives working out of Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America. ALBQ, NYC, LA, MPLS.