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Have You Considered Lighting your Sports Field?
Installing a quality sports lighting system on your athletic field can provide many benefits to
your players and fans, including safety of the athletes, more flexible scheduling for games
and practices, and improving the fans’ experience. As you consider lighting your field, field
maintenance plans and budgets may need to change accordingly to accommodate any additional play.
Depending upon your needs, cost effective lighting options can be for short- or long-term
uses:
• Temporary lighting – portable, self-contained units that are usually best suited for special
events.
• Permanent Lighting – mounted on fixed poles (concrete or steel) for long-lasting value.
Factors to Consider as You Begin Planning
• C
ommunity endorsement – Depending upon the location of your sports field, nearby neighbors and businesses may have concerns about light spilling onto their
properties. Your city may have ordinances regulating
the amount of light/glare allowed, especially near highways and roadways. There may be zoning code restrictions that need to be followed.
• Power lines – Overhead and underground power lines
need to be identified and included when making a system decision.
•Field Layout – Is there adequate room to set back
the lighting poles? Systems usually require 50’, 75’
or 100’ set-back. Is there easy accessibility for heavy
equipment for installation and future maintenance or
repairs?
• Availability of utilities – Is adequate electricity available to your field to power the lights?
• Geotechnical engineering – Soil and other factors
may need to be tested and mitigated.
•Go Green – New light control technology is available that can reduce glare and redirect light to your
field playing surfaces. This results in uniform lighting,
which is imperative for your players’ safety. More light
on the field may reduce the number of fixtures needed.
New energy efficient technology also can help to lower
the amount of electricity used.
• O
perating costs – Lighting systems are computerregulated and may help to reduce staff resources.
Maintenance costs may also be reduced if your lighting system uses bulbs that are commercially available
rather than proprietary, which may need to be specialordered. Be sure to budget for the costs to replace
bulbs, which usually require the use of a bucket truck
or cherry picker. When possible, design systems so that
ballasts are placed within reach of a ladder to minimize
the need for expensive pole climbers or bucket trucks.
Also develop a plan and the procedures to operate the
lights, including designating and training your lighting
operators. Consider cost of electricity and future costs
such as re-lamping and major repairs when determining rental rates for usage by outside groups.
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Your Resource for Safer Sports Fields
Brought to you by the Sports Turf Managers Association and its charitable Foundation, The SAFE Foundation
Have You Considered Lighting your Sports Field?
• T
raining. Are there special instructions and information that need to be communicated and understood to
use the system most effectively?
• Warranty coverage. What is included? Excluded?
Some companies can include maintenance and repair
costs for up to 25 years in the original purchase price.
Unique partnerships may also help defray capital or operating costs, such as entering into an agreement with
a cellular telephone company that needs a cell tower in
your area. The lighting pole/cell tower can serve a dual
purpose of providing cellular service and supporting the
lights for your field. Many times, you can negotiate to get
new lights and income resulting from leasing the land to
the cellular carrier for the tower and space for the transmission equipment. When buildings are required for the
transmission equipment, you may be able to negotiate for
some needed storage space within the structure. Always
make sure that your site will be a co-location tower so
you can have more than one carrier on the tower. It is
common for carriers to pay $10,000-$20,000 per year to
lease space for the towers. Remember, if they need towers
in your area, you are in the drivers seat.
Lighting companies can usually provide turn-key services,
which include financing options, support to gain community buy-in, help with bid specifications, developing the
field lighting design, soil engineering and installation.
Typical Field Lighting Costs
A high school football field can be lighted for approximately $200,000. This includes lighting levels of 30 footcandles and assumes that power source is adequate and
within 100 feet of one of the four poles. Costs could range
up to $400,000 depending upon the field’s location and
specifications.
Lighting Project Checklist
• S
tandards. Does the system meet appropriate ANSI,
other standards and certifications?
• Ballast ratings. At what temperature is the lighting
system guaranteed to work efficiently? Some lighting
systems are guaranteed to work efficiently in higher
ambient temperatures, which may lower maintenance
costs by extending the life of equipment. This could be
important if your football field is in a warm region of
the country.
• Off field lighting. Be sure to consider light levels in
areas such as the track radius farthest from the field.
• Security lighting and surveillance cameras. Consider the need and location of additional security lighting
and cameras. It may be much cheaper to install this
equipment during the lighting project since they can be
incorporated into the new poles
• Project management & timeline. What is the expected duration of the project? Is there a contingency plan
if there are delays?
• Installation & quality control testing. At what stages
are QC tests completed?
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Examples of Lighting Layouts for a Football Field
FOOTBALL 75’ SETBACK
MOUNTING HEIGHT: 70’
50 maintained
57
54
53
56
65
57
60
53
10
38
51
60
51
54
56
51
50
40
52
53
40
39
53
56
30
51
38
56
53
57
44
62
51
54
57
44
P3
45
53
60
40
41
51
60
30
41
51
56
54
20
45
44
30
FOOTCANDLES: 53
52
40
P1
44
20
153,000
56
10
INITIAL LUMENS: 53
39
51
40
horizontal
41
51
50
52
TOTAL LUMINAIRES: 64
OPTIC: 51
39
40
56
24 narrow luminaires
40 medium luminaires
45
10
40
20
BEAM TYPE: 4
62
30
# OF POLES: P2
38
52
51
39
20
41
51
10
45
56
40
62
38
P4
FOOTBALL 100’ SETBACK
MOUNTING HEIGHT: 90’
55
58
54
49
57
53
57
10
57
52
53
56
55
54
57
45
P3
37
58
54
30
44
38
52
57
40
31
54
58
55
50
49
57
57
45
52
57
53
40
44
49
56
53
30
49
44
54
55
20
45
30
50 maintained
57
20
FOOTCANDLES:
54
57
38
45
10
153,000
56
58
52
31
44
40
52
37
P1
49
50
INITIAL LUMENS:
57
37
TOTAL LUMINAIRES: 68
horizontal
52
10
36 narrow luminaires
32 medium luminaires
OPTIC:
49
54
40
31
38
20
BEAM TYPE:
4
30
# OF POLES:
P2
52
56
37
20
49
57
10
52
54
38
49
31
P4
FOOTBALL 50’ SETBACK
MOUNTING HEIGHT: 60’
46
43
67
48
46
56
54
P4
62
44
10
51
46
60
46
60
57
50
57
P5
47
36
43
60
30
46
47
51
20
54
36
56
10
67
51
48
38
Diagrams courtesy of Hubbell Lighting, SportsLiter Solutions.
P6
3
38
51
43
62
48
67
44
40
48
56
46
62
48
54
44
46
40
46
51
46
30
P1
57
46
46
20
48
10
51
62
30
50 maintained
44
20
FOOTCANDLES:
60
48
40
153,000
51
43
47
38
57
50
47
36
P2
46
40
INITIAL LUMENS:
54
56
36
TOTAL LUMINAIRES: 54
horizontal
10
67
46 medium luminaires
8 wide luminaires
OPTIC:
48
51
20
BEAM TYPE:
6
30
# OF POLES:
P3
38