Historic Lambeau Field’s new LED lighting system promises better lighting quality for the Green Bay Packers when they play at home as well as their fans watching on TVs across the country.
Energy Savings Worthy of a Lambeau Leap
The new lighting system includes 296 LED light fixtures from Musco, each consuming 414 kW. This represents a 60% reduction from the HID lighting system installed during the 2003 renovation, which included 648 HID fixtures that each consumed 1,065 kW.
The old lighting system was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain and upgrade because the system was aging and replacement parts were becoming scarce, according to Aaron Popkey, Director of Public Affairs for the Green Bay Packers.
“Like a lot of us are going through in our homes, when you’re replacing light bulbs or looking to upgrade lights, you go to the LED technology,” Popkey explains. “That’s going to make a big difference in terms of energy efficiency and reducing the number of lights itself by more than half. Electrical consumption is going to drop significantly.”
The new lighting system was installed via helicopter, as using cranes would require extensive setup, disassembly, moving and reassembly for each of the stadium’s eight lighting areas.
Watch it happen: Helicopter used to install LED lights
Better Quality for TV Fans
The LED lighting will reduce glare on the field, deliver brighter and more vibrant color, and eliminate the flicker during slow-motion footage, meaning better replay quality for fans watching from home, Popkey notes. The lighting system can be dimmed for special events inside the stadium.
Lambeau is one of just a handful of NFL stadiums to embrace LED lighting. The advanced technology first lit the field for the Super Bowl in 2015 in Glendale, Arizona and is slowly proving itself as stadium operators notice the enhanced game presentation and operational cost savings.
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What’s yet to be seen is whether the lower operational costs will be passed on to fans in the form of lower prices for Packer tickets, which have continued to rise consistently over the last eight years, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
