LEDs are ready to light up the world of Sport.

There was a time when one static camera and a floodlight tower in four corners of the stadium represented the modern day broadcasting of sporting events. Times have drastically changed, to the point were high definition slow motion replays have now increased the video speed by an original 70 frames per second to a whopping 300 frames per second, reducing the chances of any flickering in  the video. Having said all of that, the demand for a flicker free lighting is continuing to gain momentum and was actually included in the lighting design specification for the London olympics in 2012. Stadiums are capable of meeting this broadcasting demand by installing the traditional metal halide floodlights with an electronic control gear or alternatively LEDs

In August 2014, a preseason football game between the premiere league champions Chelsea and Spanish side Real Sociedad was completely light by LED's.  This was the first time in which LED lighting was used in English football. The LEDs used in stamford bridge (the home to Chelsea FC) was supplied by LED giant Philips. The momentum however did not stop there as southampton was the next english football team which installed these energy saving LED lights at their St Mary's stadium. This was supplied by Vision Accendo,   a local lighting company

Musco, a 40 year old US based lighting specialist company are single handedly responsible for the LED lighting of 60 sporting facilities last year. This is still suprisingly a small figure in comparison to the 2.000  lighting projects which Musco are aiming to conclude by the end of the year, using LEDs and other lighting technologies. These projects include Twickenham Rugby stadium, the train centre for the Denver Broncos and the NRG Stadium home to Houston Texans (American Football team).

Floodlighting seems to be the piece in the jigsaw that Philips are aiming to fill up with LEDs, according to Mike Simpson the technical and design director of Philips " Floodlights are one the last places LEDs are taking over". Proir to the world cup in brazil dutch technology company ArenaVision installed metal halide system aiming to optimise HDTV, Super Slow Motion and 3Ds. However it now looks as though this technology is wearing off the vice president of lighting giant Musco highlihted  " Metal halide has reached its zenith, while the energy efficiency and quality of LED lighting is still rising".

This was further brought to attention by this year's Super Bowl being taken place under LED lights. This event is American Football's answer to the World cup final and is one the most watched sporting events in the world.  

Overall its hard to disagree, LEDs are not just a force to be reckoned with anymore they are the go to technology in lighting and who knows maybe the next time you go watch your favourite sporting team you will be light up by LEDs

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