How a Handful of Visionary College Programs Led an Industry-wide LED Sports Lighting Revolution

In the competitive world of sports, visionaries who forge ahead with creative solutions become industry trendsetters. That certainly was the case with Joe Sheridan and Craig Jankowski, the general manager and director of operations, respectively, of the Liacouras Center – home court for Temple University.  

Although both men were just doing their jobs, a decision they made less than a decade ago forever changed the sports lighting industry.  

In 2013, when LED sports lighting was unknown, unproven and unfamiliar, Sheridan, Jankowski and their leadership team at Spectra Venue Management turned Liacouras Center into one of the first college sports venues to make the switch to LED lighting. 

It was a bold move, for what was at the time the 10th busiest venue of its size in the United States. The operators of the Liacouras Center replaced their 106 metal halide fixtures and 102 incandescent fixtures with just 54 highly efficient Ephesus Arena fixtures. In addition, they added 20 color fixtures to enhance fan entertainment capabilities at the 10,200-seat multipurpose arena. The impetus for the move to LED? Both energy savings and the capability to offer a better game presentation.  

What makes LED lighting so valuable?
In just six years since the Liacouras Center helped give solid-state sports lighting a proving ground to demonstrate its many benefits, thousands of other sports facilities, including hundreds of college venues across North America, have made the switch (including Rupp Arena at the University of Kentucky, the Watsco Center at the University of Miami, Purdue University’s Mackey Arena, and the Exactech Arena at the O’Connell Center at the University of Florida, to name just a few). Operators from each venue have reported more control over lighting needs, energy savings and – most importantly – better lighting for performers, fans and broadcasters.

Now that so many venue operators have experienced the benefits of LED sports lighting firsthand, they’re clearly receptive to the next generation model – integrated, adaptable sports lighting solutions. 

One company, Ephesus Sports Lighting, introduced a sports lighting system that allows facility operators to buy what they need now and then remotely update, adapt and expand the system as their needs evolve and new technologies and features become available. The system, called Lumadapt, features patented beam control and color temperature tuning which meet lighting requirements for a variety of events, so the need for temporary lights, or reliance on a series of different fixture sets for every event, is eliminated. Instead, venues using this system can switch from basketball lighting to hockey lighting to monster truck show lighting with the push of a button.

“Since we introduced the first LED sports lighting solution in 2012, it’s become obvious that facility operators will no longer accept lights that simply turn on and off,” said Mike Quijano, Director of Business Development and Product Marketing for Ephesus Sports Lighting. “The vast majority of operators we meet have heard about the benefits of LED from their colleagues and have done their research. They understand the value of an adaptable and integrated solid-state lighting system that offers solutions to their unique problems, and the opportunity it provides to make their venue stand out from the competition in attracting marquee events.”

4 BENEFITS OF “FUTURE-PROOFED” LED SPORTS LIGHTING
Now with the arrival of “future-proofed” adaptable LED sports lighting, facility operators can evaluate the benefits of switching to an LED sports lighting solution armed with enhanced trend data and real-world case studies. 

1. FEWER BUDGET CONSTRAINTS: Adaptable LED sports lighting offers customers a suite of a-la-carte features and functionality. Among them are RGBA color, beam tuning, color temperature tuning, remote health/status monitoring and a dynamic scene builder with the capability to make personalized lighting scenes.

2. FULLY INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY: Many original LED sports lighting systems are simply a string of independent fixtures that are only connected via the in-house control system to turn on and off. The next-gen products are designed with an intelligent cloud data approach that connects the entire system, allowing users to remotely monitor system heath and upload new features, functionality and upgrades.  

3. LONG-TERM VALUE: The ability to add features, functionality and technological innovations assures facility operators that the system they buy today will remain state of the art and solve problems they don’t yet anticipate.

4. CUSTOM WARRANTIES: The ability to monitor system health and usage has allowed warranties to evolve from vague 25-year coverage plans with a host of loopholes and limitations, to a more personalized service plan that allows for proactive updates.   

Ephesus Sports Lighting provides state-of-the-art digital lighting systems with maximum flexibility to adapt to a venue’s unique needs. The company’s LED solutions deliver lighting that provides exactly the experience fans and athletes expect and deserve, both today and tomorrow. EphesusLighting.com