FIFA Football Stadium Lighting Guide
Stadium lights are extremely powerful sports field lighting fixtures installed at high elevations with narrow beam angles typically ranging from 10 to 90 degrees. The narrower the beam angle, the greater the light intensity within that angle, allowing bright light to be projected onto the ground from a higher elevation.
Football stadium lighting (LED football lighting – exploring the best LED lights for football stadiums) plays a crucial role in nighttime matches. For spectators, their experience largely depends on the lighting system setup. For players, the lighting must provide sufficient coverage to enable them to fully utilize their skills.
Football field lighting is a highly functional, technically demanding, and relatively complex design. Football field lighting must not only meet the standards for football matches at all levels but also prioritize the actual effects of real-time color television broadcasts. To ensure vivid and clear broadcast images with true-to-life colors, there are specific regulations for vertical illuminance, light intensity uniformity, spatial depth perception, color temperature, and color rendering index of the light source. Lighting standards also vary depending on the level of the football field.
FIFA Football Stadium Lighting Standards
Football stadium lighting must meet the needs of audiovisual media, spectators, professional football players, and referees. The lighting requirements depend on whether the venue is used for matches or training, whether the matches are domestic or international, and whether television broadcasts are conducted.
Based on these factors, there are various levels and parameters. Let’s take a look at the main types of football stadium lighting and the characteristics they must possess.
FIFA: Television broadcast events (Em ≥ 1,500–2,000 lx/uniformity ≥ 0.7). CRI 80, CCT 5000–6200K
Level 1: World Cup training or small-scale matches (Em ≥ 750 lx/uniformity ≥ 0.6). CRI 80, CCT 5000–6200K, non-televised matches.
Level 2: Match practice (Em ≥ 500 lx/uniformity ≥ 0.6). Color rendering index (CRI) 70, correlated color temperature (CCT) 5000–6200K
Level 3: Standard training use (Em ≥ 300 lx/uniformity ≥ 0.6). Color Rendering Index (CRI) 70, Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) 4200-6200K
The table below lists requirements for E level, uniformity, flicker coefficient, reference grid, color temperature, color rendering, glare rating, maintenance factor, etc.
Design Guidelines
Football Field Dimensions
Football fields are typically 105 meters long and 68 meters wide. However, dimensions may vary slightly depending on the intended use. The length range is 90–120 meters, and the width range is 45–90 meters. If your soccer field dimensions are non-standard, please inform us.
Light Pole Layout And Height
Typically, Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3 football fields all require the installation of light poles. The following are the recommended number of light poles, number of luminaires, light pole height, and total luminaire lumen output for different grades of football fields. However, the final output may vary slightly depending on the lighting Dialux, as the lighting distribution and lumen output of individual luminaires for stadium lighting often differ.
Uniformity
One of the key elements of a football pitch lighting system is lighting uniformity. The lighting uniformity of the pitch must comply with FIFA regulations on all FIFA reference planes. Illuminance uniformity can be defined as the uniformity of light distribution on a given reference plane. For uniformity requirements for different levels of pitches, please refer to the Lighting Requirements Standards section.
Illuminance uniformity refers to the ratio of the minimum illuminance to the average illuminance on a specified surface. The higher this value, the more uniform the lighting, resulting in a more comfortable visual experience. Experience has shown that the uniformity values calculated during the design process provide good guidance but are typically higher than the measured values after the lighting system is installed. Therefore, FIFA recommends that the illuminance uniformity values calculated during the design process should exceed the minimum requirements to account for potential reductions during actual measurements.
Glare
Glare refers to a visual condition caused by inappropriate brightness distribution in space or time, or excessive brightness contrast, leading to visual discomfort and reduced object visibility. Glare that the human eye cannot adapt to within the field of vision may cause aversion, discomfort, or even vision loss. Additionally, glare is one of the primary causes of visual fatigue.
Uncomfortable glare on a football field is caused by excessive brightness from a single point (light fixture). Therefore, we should pay more attention to the arrangement of lighting fixtures.
The method for determining the glare effect of a light source or group of light sources is complex.
Colour Temperature (CCT)
Colour temperature (Tc) describes the warm (red) or cool (blue) feel or appearance of a particular type of lighting, measured in Kelvin (K). Football matches typically need to start during daylight hours and end under all stadium lighting provided by the floodlighting system. In such cases, artificial lighting should generally be used at the start of the broadcast to allow for a gradual transition from daylight to artificial illumination. During this period, broadcast engineers will be able to fine-tune camera settings as needed. The chart below provides a guide to the colour temperature range required for FIFA stadiums.
CRI
The Colour Rendering Index (CRI) represents the quality of light and its ability to accurately reproduce the colours of objects. Colour rendering is expressed as a CRI value ranging from 0 to 100 Ra. The higher the CRI value, the stronger the light source's ability to accurately reproduce the colours of illuminated objects.
FIFA regulations stipulate that lighting systems must have good colour rendering properties. For FIFA Standards A and B, the CRI value must be greater than Ra80, while for FIFA Standards C and D, the CRI value must be greater than Ra70.
What are the advantages of ROKEE LIGHTING's stadium lighting solutions?
Free lighting design
ROKEE LIGHTING offers free lighting design services. Whether your stadium is for competitive, training, or amateur matches, we can provide detailed planning solutions, including lighting fixture layout, fixture selection, and installation direction.
High Luminous Efficiency
Under the same conditions, higher luminous efficiency means greater energy savings. ROKEE LIGHTING (LED outdoor stadium lighting supplier) stadium lights use high-quality PHILIPS LUMILEDS/OSRAM LED chips and efficient LED drivers, achieving a luminous efficiency of up to 170 lm/W, maximising energy savings and environmental protection.
High-end LED drivers
ROKEE LIGHTING's stadium lights use PHILIPS/INVENTRONICE/MEANWELL high-efficiency LED driver, featuring an ultra-long service life to meet stadium requirements. Additionally, they have low ripple noise (RIPPLE & NOISE), eliminating visible flicker effects, ensuring clear viewing in high-definition broadcast environments without flickering.
Optical Design
ROKEE LIGHTING stadium lights offer a wide range of optical distributions, including symmetrical and asymmetrical distributions suitable for most stadium lighting needs. We are confident there is a lens option to meet your project requirements. If you have any special optical distribution requirements, we can also customise solutions for you.
Higher IP and IK Ratings
ROKEE LIGHTING's LED floodlights feature extremely high IP and IK ratings. The IP66 protection rating makes our fixtures suitable for most outdoor lighting applications. The IK10 protection rating ensures the product can be safely used in high-impact sports venues, such as cricket grounds, football fields, tennis courts, and basketball courts.
Aiming Position Light (Laser Pointer)
Our lighting designers can assist you in planning football fields. During project implementation, the installation and alignment of lighting are critical. The laser pointer helps precisely align the lights with the green laser's aiming point, with a projection distance of up to 200 metres. All of this is designed to make your work more convenient and efficient.
Finally, if you would like to enjoy ROKEE LIGHTING's free lighting design service, please send an email to rokee@rokeelighting.net to find the right sports lighting fixtures for your stadium.
