You don’t need to be an energy consultant to know that modern sports venues are fairly power-hungry buildings. Even a cursory look at the layout of a typical stadium would be enough to suggest that the monthly electricity bill might be a touch on the high side – particularly now, with energy prices skyrocketing as a result of increased demand and global uncertainty.

From sports lighting and scoreboards to behind-the-scenes facilities like catering and broadcast, even an average sized stadium now burns through a lot of power. That’s particularly true in the case of football stadiums, which tend to be both some of the largest sporting venues and amongst the most frequently used. Some estimates suggest that a large football stadium uses as much as 25,000 KWh during a single 90 minute match – the same amount as eight and a half UK homes do in an entire year .

As much as that has an implication in terms of cost, there is of course another very critical issue at play here: sustainability. Expensive though it might be to power a stadium over the course of a game, the long-term cost to the planet is even greater still. It’s with that concern in mind that a growing number of clubs have been introducing green initiatives designed to reduce – or at least mitigate – the amount of power that their venues use.

In this post, I’d like to highlight some of the most noteworthy green initiatives in football stadiums around the world – including some smart approaches to sports lighting and power.

Local derbies are always heated affairs, particularly when the teams involved are competing for one of the coveted Champions League spots. While passions may have been running high on the pitch during Tottenham and Chelsea’s clash last year though, the environmental cost of the game on was at a record-setting low.

On Sunday 19th September 2021, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium hosted “Game Zero” – the world’s first net zero carbon elite football match. As is now common in many carbon neutral (and carbon negative) strategies, that result was achieved by first lowering emissions as much as possible, and then offsetting anything that couldn’t be eliminated in its entirety.

In practice, this involved a number of smaller initiatives coming together at once. Players arrived on green biodiesel-powered coaches, fans were encouraged to walk or travel using electric or hybrid vehicles, and all facilities at the stadium – including the sports lighting – were powered by 100% renewable energy. Chelsea may have run out as 3-0 winners on the day, but the long-term legacy of this game is likely to be remembered for very different reasons.

From the top of the table to the lowest division in the English League – though there’s little doubt that Gloucestershire’s Forest Green Rovers (FGR) could teach some of their higher flying counterparts a few things about sustainability. In 2017, governing body FIFA recognised FGR as “the greenest club in the world”, and it’s easy to see why.

For starters, while Game Zero may have seen renewable energy used for one specific match, FGR’s New Lawn stadium runs on it full time. The club uses 100% green energy (some of which is generated from solar panels installed on the stadium’s roof), its pitch is treated entirely organically, and the grass is even cut using a solar-powered lawnmower. “Another way” indeed.

On the pitch, Johan Cruijff was known for inventing the eponymous “Cruijff Turn” – a twisting manoeuvre that left his rivals in his wake. It’s only fitting, then, that the stadium that carries the Dutch legend’s name is now recognised for its similarly revolutionary qualities.

Proving that solar panels aren’t just for the likes of Forest Green, Ajax’s Johan Cruijff ArenA employs 4,200 of the devices around almost the whole of the stadium’s roof. What’s more, the club has created a storage system that includes hundreds of new and recycled Electric Vehicle batteries – meaning that it not only has backup power in the event of an outage, but that it can actually supply energy back to the Netherlands’ national grid in times of high demand .

Of course, it would be remiss of us not to mention that the ArenA also uses a highly efficient LED sports lighting solution , as well as an accompanying grow lighting rig that helps to keep the pitch in peak condition.

Let’s finish off with one of the most recent examples of sustainability in action. In an effort to raise awareness of the club’s ongoing Forever Green initiative, Real Betis’ match against Athletic Club last month served as a scintillating showcase of sustainable sport.

First up was a change to the club’s first-team kit, with a revamped design made using 100% recycled polyester. This is no token gesture or PR stunt, either; Betis’ has actually made the shirt available for sale in the club shop. Joining it are a set of Forever Green trainers (or sneakers), made entirely from sustainable and recycled materials.

For the game itself, the club arranged a series of discount offers with electric bike company Lime, as well as electric scooter firms Acciona and Voi, all in a bid to encourage environmentally friendly travel. Those who opted to travel using their own e-bike or scooter were given their own designated parking space as a reward.

On the pitch, players drank from recycled water bottles, while watching fans were able to grab their halftime snacks in biodegradable bowls, before dropping them into recycling bins for their eventual transformation into fertiliser. With one Euro from every ticket sale donated to a reforestation project, the club also made a commitment to offsetting the carbon emissions from the game.

For Betis, green clearly means much more than just the colour on their shirts.

Can we realistically expect every match to live up to the amazing example set during the game between Betis and Athletic? Maybe not, but the great stories above do at least give me hope that we’re headed in the right direction.

If you’re interested in maximising the sustainability of your own stadium, you should know that an LED sports lighting solution can have a dramatic impact on reducing the amount of energy that you use. Find out more here, take a look through some of our case studies, and get in touch.

No matter the sport, and no matter the level of ability, lighting is now a significant consideration for stadiums of all kinds. Irrespective of whether it’s the final of the FIFA World Cup or a lower-league tie on a frosty Friday night, the quality of a stadium’s lighting goes a long way to dictating the quality of the experience for viewers, fans, and athletes alike.

Not all sports lighting is the same, of course, and even similar products from a single vendor can produce very different results when employed ineffectively. In this post, we’re taking a look at the subject of sports stadium lighting and offering some key tips on how to maximise the success of your own solution.

The important word here is “good”. Almost any floodlight manufactured within the past couple of decades will be capable of illuminating a stadium environment to some degree – but that doesn’t mean that the quality will be at an appropriate level.

What is “appropriate” can change dramatically depending on the venue but, broadly speaking, there are three overarching issues to take into account when thinking about lighting:

1. Is the solution you’re using going to be sufficient for your athletes or players? Will they be able to operate at the same kind of level that they would in natural daylight?
2. Does that system give spectators what they need in terms of visibility? Can they see what’s happening on the track or field clearly, no matter where they’re sat?
3. Is your stadium well-lit enough to ensure the safety of competing professionals? This is particularly important for fast-moving and contact sports.

These are all crucial factors to address when evaluating your lighting needs.

In addition to the above, and where relevant, it’s important to consider broadcast coverage. In the last decade in particular, certain changes in regard to sports broadcasting mean that some stadium lighting solutions need to meet very specific requirements. With slow-motion and UHD video now commonplace, high power, flicker-free lighting solutions need to be in place in order to give the cameras what they need.

Even at lower levels, the proliferation of livestreaming means that many teams and venues have an entirely new way to connect with fans, particularly those who are located some way away. Good lighting can help to facilitate that connection.

The lights used in modern stadiums come from a wider category known as “sports lighting”. The majority of stadium lighting systems being manufactured today use LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), though some vendors do still build their lights using metal halide lamps. These lamps are an increasingly outdated form of technology, and one that has been proven to be far less energy efficient than LED.

Because they need to illuminate large areas, stadium lights usually rely on very high power LEDs. At the highest grade of the soccer stadium lighting regulations outlined by UEFA, for instance, horizontal lighting levels need to be 1,400 lux or above. That’s more than 10 times the amount that the FA stipulates for the majority of games in the National League.

To deliver the best lighting levels possible, stadium lights also tend to be affixed to either a stand or a mast, typically mounted between 40 and 60ft above the ground – though, at bigger venues, it’s not uncommon to find lights as high as 100ft. Common mast configurations usually include one in each of the four corners, with either one or two masts running down each of the sidelines for a total of six or eight respectively.

Because of the distance between the light and the pitch, small beam angles of between 12-60° are used to keep the light focused and intense. The actual type and number of luminaires (individual floodlight units) required normally depends on the specific circumstances of a stadium, and the sport being hosted there.

While lighting layouts between stadiums often have a lot in common, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” approach – particularly between different disciplines. Much of the variance comes down to the nature of the sport itself; in hockey, for instance, the pace of the game and the size of the ball demands a standard of illumination that wouldn’t necessarily apply on a football pitch.

If you’d like to learn more about some of the specific stadium lighting considerations across different sports, why not take a look at our dedicated pages below?

For a stadium lighting solution to be as effective as possible, it needs to be designed with an actual venue’s requirements in mind. Take a football stadium as an example: there can be corner lighting, side lighting in both six and eight column configurations, and even grandstand lighting. Ultimately, the layout needs to work with that stadium’s specific needs.

Because of that, there’s no single answer to the question of how much power stadium lights will use. It’s a variable, and one that can change from stadium to stadium and even country to country depending on energy prices. That said, there are two things to consider when it comes to lighting costs.

Firstly, energy costs can always be predicted using a fairly basic calculations. Take the total number of luminaires and multiply that by the amount of energy that one luminaire requires (i.e. 1.18kW). Multiply the result by the current per hour kW rate (i.e. £0.20) and then, finally, multiply that value by the number of hours that your lights run for in an average year. That will give you a fairly reliable forecast of your annual running costs.

Secondly, and as mentioned above, LED lights offer many advantages over older options like metal halide. Not only are they cheaper and cleaner to run overall, they can also be switched on and off instantly, meaning they can be powered down between matches or events. LEDs are also dimmable, so they can be run on a lower power setting when circumstances allow.

One last thing to bear in mind when it comes to cost is that many sports governing bodies – particularly in the fields of football, rugby, and tennis – now offer grants as a way to help fund new and more energy-efficient stadium lighting solutions.

At Midstream, we’ve helped a number of our sports customers around the world apply for and secure funding for their LED stadium lighting upgrades, so it’s a benefit that’s well worth exploring if you’re looking to take your own venue to the next level.