Do stadiums still use traditional lighting today?
Although LED technology is very mature, some older stadiums still use traditional lighting, mainly high-power metal halide lamps or high-pressure sodium lamps (HPS). There are three main reasons for this:
First, the initial investment – replacing all the lighting in a large stadium can cost millions or even tens of millions of yuan, which is unaffordable for some financially strained venues or amateur clubs;
Second, limitations imposed by historical installation structures – old light poles and electrical systems may not support the installation methods of LED lighting;
Third, a lack of expertise – some stadium managers are unaware that LEDs can achieve or even surpass the performance of traditional lighting. However, almost all new professional sports stadiums built since 2015 (such as new stadiums in the English Premier League, NFL, and Chinese Super League) have adopted LED lighting because the shortcomings of traditional lamps have become increasingly unacceptable: metal halide lamps require 5-10 minutes to warm up to full brightness, meaning that after halftime, turning them back on requires waiting, which is very inconvenient; metal halide lamps experience rapid light decay (brightness typically decreases by 30% after 2000 hours of use), requiring frequent bulb replacements; moreover, metal halide lamps contain mercury, making environmental disposal difficult; and more importantly, traditional lamps cannot meet the requirements of high-definition television broadcasting for flicker-free operation and high color rendering.
Therefore, the vast majority of stadiums are gradually replacing traditional lamps with LEDs, and it is expected that by 2030, traditional lighting will have essentially disappeared from professional sports stadiums.
