LED Stadium Lights

What Are LED Stadium Lights?

LED stadium lights are the type of lighting that you typically see in a stadium or sports field, but they specifically use LEDs instead of halogen or other types of lights. Stadium lights are usually very bright and come in a range of beam angles.

Why Buy LED Stadium Lights?

As you choose your stadium lights, you should always go with LEDs. This will give you the advantages of LEDs in addition to the benefits of the stadium lights themselves. That includes the following.

Cost

Going with LED stadium lights will lead to plenty of savings. You will notice lower electric bills and a longer life span. Both of those lead to saving money over time.

Energy Savings

Having a lower electric bill from using LED stadium lights not only saves you money, but it also means that you reduce your energy consumption and, therefore, your impact on the planet.

Appearance

LED lights tend to deliver lighting that is more uniform in appearance and with more consistent quality. You are also much less likely to notice any flickering with LED lights. This elevates the overall appearance of the lighting and improves the experience for both the athletes on the field and those watching them.

Easy Maintenance

On top of all of their other benefits, LEDs require minimal maintenance. This reduces the cumulative amount of time your team has to spend out of your day to take care of the lights over the course of a year. That can translate into further cost savings by having an employee work fewer hours or focusing on other tasks.

Also, maintenance on a stadium light that is 40 or 60 feet in the air is not the easiest task and requires special equipment, such as a forklift, crane, or similar.

Durability

Compared to other types of lighting, LEDs are also highly durable. This ties into the longer life span already mentioned in regards to savings. Not only will the durability of LEDs save you money in the long run, but it also saves you time, as you will have to research replacement lights less often. You also won’t have to worry about installation as frequently or the costs or downtime associated with it.

Safety

LEDs even stand out in terms of safety. They do not heat up as much as other types of lights and will not contain mercury, which some traditional lights do.

Versatility

Most stadium lights are incredibly versatile, as you can install them in stadiums of various heights and sizes. You will need to adjust how many you use and how you place them based on the space. While most stadium lights will be mounted at about 40 to 60 feet, you can also mount them 100 feet high or higher. In those cases, the lights will typically be post lights with a brilliant fixture on top.

How to Choose LED Stadium Lights

With that in mind, it is time to learn how to choose LED stadium lights. Keeping the following factors in mind can make a previously overwhelming decision much easier to make.

Start With a Plan for the Stadium, Including Spacing and Number of Lights

Your first step should always be to come up with a general plan for your stadium lighting. Think about the shape and size of the stadium and use that information to plan where you will place lights for the best effect. This is also the time to consider how many lights you will need to light up space effectively and how far apart they should be from each other.

The closer together you put the lights, the more you will need for space.

Choose a Type of Stadium Lights – What Are the Different Types of LED Stadium Lights?

One of the most important decisions to make when choosing LED stadium lights is which type of light you want to use. Most stadium lights will be post lights, meaning that they sit on top of a tall pole. You can also find stadium lights attached to part of the stadium’s structure, such as a partial roof.

Because of the brightness required and the goal of lighting up the entire space, LED floodlights are the most common option for stadium lights, whether they are on top of light posts or fit to the structure itself. You can also opt for spotlights if you want, but remember that those do not spread light out as well as floodlights.

Brightness in Lumens or Wattage

When comparing the brightness of various LED stadium lights, you will want to pay attention to either the watts or the lumens. Most lights have at least 60,000 lumens, if not more. This is necessary to ensure they are bright enough for space.

To some extent, the brightness of the lights you choose will depend on how high you mount them. If the light sits 60 feet or higher, try to go with 1,000 or 1,200 watts. If the lights are at 40 feet, then 500 watts should be enough.

You could use lower wattages if you mount the lights lower, but you would need more lights to do so. Additionally, the resulting light pattern would not be as natural.

If your new LED stadium light is replacing an old metal halide one and you want similar brightness levels, consider the following approximate conversions:

• 1000 watts of metal halide = 50,000 lumens of LED
• 1500 watts of metal halide = 75,000 lumens of LED
• 2000 watts of metal halide = 100,000 lumens of LED

Think of those lumens conversions as the minimum you want to choose. They should be enough, but you may want to consider something slightly brighter.

Beam Angles

In addition to the brightness, consider the angle of the beams when looking at LED stadium lights. Angling the lights right helps ensure that every spot on the field is well-lit, without dim patches or dark areas.

Carefully choosing the beam angles also helps you ensure that none of the lights will shine directly into players’ eyes. It can also minimize the chance of the lights shining into the eyes of spectators.

30-degree angles are particularly common. This angle would give you a circle of light that is 50 feet across if you place it 30 feet in the air. That circle increases to 70 feet in diameter if the light is 50 feet high.

Light Color and CRI

In terms of the color of your LED stadium lights, there are a few considerations. Start by thinking about the color of light you want. Most stadiums opt for 5000K, which is pure white. However, you can consider a different color temperature if you prefer. When looking at color temperature, higher color temperatures increase the blue light while lower color temperatures increase the red light. For reference, the sun at noon is usually about 4800K to 6000K.

The CRI refers to the Color Rendering Index, which is how accurately the light will show the color of an object it shines on. The higher the rating, the more accurately the color appears. For example, a good CRI rating means blue jerseys will appear blue, while light blue jerseys will appear light blue.

The ideal is a CRI rating of at least 75.

Glare

Glare is a unique consideration for lights in stadiums. If the lights give off too much glare or even any glare, they may disrupt the game. They can distract players or spectators.

Because of this risk, the best LED stadium lights always have measures in place to help reduce glare. Keep in mind that the level of glare will also depend on the angle at which you install the light.

Other Broadcast Considerations

If stadiums that will ever have something broadcast out of them, you also want to think about how the lights will impact that. Glare is an important consideration, but you also want to think about the intensity of the lights.

Luckily, simply opting for LEDs for your stadium lights already gives you a head start on ensuring that broadcasts are clear.

Heat Emission

With a bright light, the amount of heat it produces is always a concern. This is particularly important in a stadium when athletes are engaging in heavy cardio activity for hours. If the lights you install heat up too much, they can cause the field to become hotter, putting the athletes at risk or just hurting their performance.

The good news is that you reduce the heat output a bit by choosing an LED stadium light over another type. Just keep this in mind when choosing light and try to opt for one that won’t get too warm or heat the field.

Outdoor Rating

Because stadium lights will go outside, you should always pay attention to the weather rating. Look for IP65 or higher in the lights. Lights with this rating should handle rain, wind, dust, humidity, and other weather conditions.

Overall Strength and Durability

While you never expect the light to get hit during a game at the stadium, there is always the possibility. Make sure that whatever stadium lights you choose to install can handle an impact or two if a ball accidentally gets sent their way at full speed.

You shouldn’t have to worry about the light flickering when hit if you choose LEDs, but you also want to pay attention to the strength of the fixture.

Controls, Including Dimming

Most LED stadium lights will offer various controls, including the ability to dim the lights or only turn on some of them. It is worth taking a minute or two to confirm that this is the case for your chosen light.

After all, you will want the lights to be significantly brighter during games than during training or other events that the stadium may host.

Quality and Brand

While all of the above factors help you confirm that you chose the right LED stadium light style, brightness, and other factors, you also want to ensure that you buy a quality product. The best way to do this is by looking at reviews as well as the brand itself.

Yes, higher quality lights can cost more initially. However, they will last longer, require less maintenance, and be less likely to need repairs, all of which make them much more affordable in the long run.

There are also a few other specific traits you should look at to determine the quality of the products and the brand.

Experience

It would help if you always opted for LED stadium lights from companies with a fair amount of experience. This should increase the quality of the light as well as its usefulness for stadium lighting.

Quality Control

Some companies will make broad claims about the quality of their products. The best will have quality controls in place, such as testing. R&C Lighting, for example, puts its lights through 13 rigorous tests.

Warranty

The warranty on a light typically varies by company, but it may also vary by product. A warranty is typically a sign that the manufacturer trusts the quality of their product, so always opt for companies that offer one.

Conclusion

If you need to buy LED stadium lights, you should pay close attention to the type of light you want, how many lights you will need for your space, the IP rating of the light, wattage or lumens, and the product quality of the manufacturer.

RC Lighting is happy to help you with any LED stadium lighting questions you have or to assist with any other type of landscape or outdoor lighting you need.