LED Sports Lighting Fixtures Buyer's Guide
Lighting a sports facility is one of the most essential parts of creating a safe, enjoyable environment for players and spectators alike. And in today’s market, there’s no shortage of options for LED sports lighting fixtures.
LED lighting has become popular for many sports applications thanks to its high energy efficiency, long lifespan, and robust durability. But with so many LED fixtures on the market, how do you know which is right for your facility?
To help you make an informed decision, we’ve compiled a LED sports lighting buyer’s guide. With our expert advice, tips, and insights, you can confidently select the perfect LED lighting system for your sports facility.
In case you are wondering how much it would cost you to install LED sports lighting fixtures for your sports facility, you can expect the total cost to range somewhere between $25,000 and $420,000, depending on various factors like the size of your sports facility, the competition level and the quality of the LED sports lighting fixtures.
Use our LED sports lighting cost calculator to get a customized cost estimate for your lighting project.
Table of Contents
Get Your LED Sports Lighting Project Started
We’ve created a comprehensive set of tools designed to assist facility managers and project planners in initiating their projects and connect them with the professionals in the industry.
What are LED Sports Lighting Fixtures?
Before starting your search for the right products, a basic understanding of how LED sports lighting fixtures work is helpful.
LED light fixtures use light-emitting diodes as their light source. LEDs offer several unique benefits, including low energy consumption, long life expectancy (typically between 50,000 and 100,000 hours), and robust durability in various environmental conditions.
In the past, sports facilities and commercial buildings have used metal halide, high-pressure sodium, and fluorescent lamps as their primary light sources. However, LED lights have become popular due to their higher efficiency, a better quality of illumination, and, lower wattage requirements (which is why they are often used for sports lighting fixtures).
Beyond their budgetary benefits, LED lights perform better in terms of visibility for athletes and fans. The light is more evenly spread across courts, fields, and the stands, making spotting the ball and players easier. Another positive aspect of LEDs is that they require no warm-up time and the lights do not flicker.
Additionally, LED lighting emits a low amount of glare on the field, improving player visibility without causing discomfort for spectators. The result is a modern facility for your athletes – especially when installed by a trusted sports lighting professional.
Applications of LED Sports Lighting Fixtures
Another major benefit of LED technology for sports lighting is versatility. Any sport, event, and size facility can benefit from LED lighting, whether a large stadium or small basketball court.
Outdoor LED sports lighting fixtures
If you’re hosting outdoor sporting events such as football, soccer, tennis, or drag racing, outdoor LED lights are a great option to illuminate your facility.
Outdoor LEDs come in various shapes and sizes depending on the specific requirements of your field or court. For example, floodlights can provide broad coverage over large fields, while spotlights focus light more accurately on particular areas.
LED Stadium Lighting Fixtures
- Competition level: Collegiate & Professional
- Baseball, Softball, Football, Soccer, etc.
- Lumen output: 84,000 – 168,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 600w – 1500w
- Metal halide equivalent: 1500w – 2000w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
- Light pole height: 40′ – 200′
LED Stadium Lighting Fixtures
LED stadium lighting fixtures are designed to provide an excellent fan experience in the stands and via TV broadcast, and a safe playing environment for players on large sports fields with thousands of spectators in the audience. These high-powered LED fixtures offer the highest level of brightness, uniformity, and color rendering due to strict requirements from the governing bodies of different sports. Stadium lighting fixtures are usually mounted on the ceiling, roof or trusses high above the playing surface.
Features and specs
- Competition level: Collegiate & Professional
- Baseball, Softball, Football, Soccer, etc.
- Lumen output: 84,000 – 168,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 600w – 1500w
- Metal halide equivalent: 1500w – 2000w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
- Light pole height: 40′ – 200′
Examples of LED stadium light fixtures
LED Sports Field Lighting Fixtures
- Competition level: High school, Recreational
- Baseball, Softball, Football, Soccer, etc.
- Lumen output: 28,000 – 70,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 400w – 900w
- Metal halide equivalent: 1000w-1500w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
- Light pole height: 40′ – 60′
LED Stadium Light Fixture
- 900W-1500W
- 91,000-161,000 lumens
- CRI 70-90
- CCT 2200K-6500K
LED Stadium Lighting Fixture
- 500W-1200W
- 48,000-144,000 lumens
- CRI 70-90
- CCT 3000K-6500K
LED Sports Field Lighting Fixtures
LED sports field lighting fixtures are powerful LED fixtures that are widely used at sports fields and ballparks used by youth sports leagues, recreational players, and high schools. They offer high-quality, uniform illumination for the playing field, minimizing glare and shadows. Typically these fixtures are mounted on top of light poles, but sometimes surrounding structures can be also used for mounting.
Features and specs
- Competition level: High school, Recreational
- Baseball, Softball, Football, Soccer, etc.
- Lumen output: 28,000 – 70,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 400w – 900w
- Metal halide equivalent: 1000w-1500w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
- Light pole height: 40′ – 60′
Examples of LED sports field light fixtures
LED Sports Field Light Fixture
- 600W-900W
- 70,000-106,000 lumens
- CRI 70-90
- CCT 1800K-6500K
LED Sports Field Light Fixture
- 300W-600W
- 42,000-84,000 lumens
- CRI 70-90
- CCT 3000K-5700K
LED Sports Court Lighting Fixtures
- Competition level: Recreational – College/pro
- Tennis, Pickleball, Basketball, Multi-sport, etc.
- Lumen output: 12,000 – 180,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 100w – 400w
- Metal halide equivalent: 250w – 1000w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
- Light pole height: 20′ – 30′
LED Sports Court Lighting Fixtures
LED sports court lighting fixtures are specifically designed for outdoor sports courts for different sports like tennis, pickleball, padel tennis, basketball, etc. These fixtures are energy-efficient sports lighters that are mounted on top of light poles. They provide top-quality, uniform illumination with relatively low wattage. The long lifespan and zero maintenance make them an ideal solution for most sports facilities.
Features and specs
- Competition level: Recreational – College/pro
- Tennis, Pickleball, Basketball, Multi-sport, etc.
- Lumen output: 12,000 – 180,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 100w – 400w
- Metal halide equivalent: 250w – 1000w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
- Light pole height: 20′ – 30′
Examples of LED sports court light fixtures
LED Sports Court Light Fixture
- Tunable white lights
- 350W
- 46,000+ lumens
- CRI up to 93
- CCT 1600K-6300K
LED Sports Court Light Fixture
- Full RGB and tunable white
- 350W
- CRI 70-90
- 1800K-10000K
LED High Mast Sports Court Light Fixture
- Asymmetric indirect light
- 100W-200W
- CRI 70-90
- CCT 3000K-5000K
LED High Mast Sports Court Light Fixture
- Asymmetric indirect light
- 300W-400W
- CRI 70-90
- CCT 3000K-4000K
LED Sports Lighting Buyer's Guide
If you're planning to install or retrofit an LED sports lighting system, our comprehensive buyer's guide covers all the essential aspects including planning, budgeting, design, installation, and post-installation considerations, simplifying your decision-making process.
Get the Free Guide
Indoor LED sports lighting fixtures
For indoor events, LED lighting fixtures are especially beneficial. Most traditional lights don’t provide enough light for indoor play, resulting in poor visibility and a dangerous playing environment.
LEDs offer superior illumination allowing players to see the court or field for badminton, ice hockey, volleyball, and basketball.
LED Indoor Arena Lighting Fixtures
- Competition level: Collegiate, Professional
- Basketball, Ice hockey, Horse arena, etc.
- Lumen output: 12,000 – 180,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 400w – 600w
- Metal halide equivalent: 1500w – 2000w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
LED Indoor Arena Lighting Fixtures
LED indoor arena lighting fixtures are designed for indoor sports arenas. The fixtures are usually mounted or hung from the ceiling to illuminate the sports court below from an ideal angle. Indoor arena LED fixtures are relatively high-powered because these types of sports facilities usually accommodate lots of spectators and the games played on the court are highly competitive. Due to the high lighting requirements, these fixtures offer high brightness, great color rendering, and excellent uniformity of light.
Features and specs
- Competition level: Collegiate, Professional
- Basketball, Ice hockey, Horse arena, etc.
- Lumen output: 12,000 – 180,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 400w – 600w
- Metal halide equivalent: 1500w – 2000w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
Examples of LED indoor arena light fixtures
LED Indoor Arena Light Fixture
- 600W
- 67,000 lumens
- CRI 70-90
- CCT 2700K-6500K
LED High Mast Fixture for Indoor Arenas
- 500W-600W
- 65,000-104,000 lumens
- 3000K-4000K
- 70-80 CRI
LED Gymnasium Lighting Fixtures
- Competition level: U12, Middle / High school
- School gymnasiums, Commercial sports halls
- Lumen output: 12,000 – 180,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 200w – 400w
- Metal halide equivalent: 1000w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
LED Gymnasium Lighting Fixtures
Similar to indoor arena lights, LED gymnasium lighting fixtures are designed to light up indoor sports facilities. Gymnasiums are usually smaller and the level of competition is lower than at large indoor arenas, which lower the requirements for the lighting fixtures. Gymnasium LED light fixtures have less wattage, lower output, and lower color rendering performance.
Features and specs
- Competition level: U12, Middle / High school
- School gymnasiums, Commercial sports halls
- Lumen output: 12,000 – 180,000
- Lumens per watt: 120 – 150
- Wattage: 200w – 400w
- Metal halide equivalent: 1000w
- Lifespan (hours): up to 176,000
Examples of LED gymnasium light fixtures
LED Gymnasium Light Fixture
- Tunable white lights
- 350W
- 46,000+ lumens
- 1600K-6300K
- CRI up to 93
LED Gymnasium Light Fixture
- Full RGB and tunable white
- 350W
- 1800K-10000K
- CRI 70-90
LED Gym High Bay Light Fixture
- Ceiling-mounted
- 100-200W
- Up to 26,000 LM
- 3000K-5700K
- CRI 70-90
LED Gym Linear High Bay Light Fixture
- Asymmetric lighting
- 70W-400W
- Up to 56,000 LM
- 3000K-6500K
- CRI 70-90
How much do LED sports lighting fixtures cost?
The purchasing cost of LED sports light fixtures is an important factor that influences the total cost of a sports lighting installation project. The price of sports lighters differs between brands and, like with most technical devices, the quality of the components and the country of origin largely determines the final price. Additionally, the bigger the total area that needs to be lit, the more wattage you will need per light fixture to reach the required illumination requirements. Higher wattage/potency unfortunately comes with a bigger price tag.
To give you an idea of the pricing, you can refer to the price ranges below per type/application of the fixtures:
- LED stadium lighting fixture price: $600 – $3000
- LED sports field lighting fixture price $500 – $2000
- LED sports court lighting fixture price: $200 – $1500
- LED indoor arena lighting fixture price: $100 – $1000
- LED gymnasium lighting fixture price: $200 – $1000
LED Sports Lighting Buyer's Guide
If you're planning to install or retrofit an LED sports lighting system, our comprehensive buyer's guide covers all the essential aspects including planning, budgeting, design, installation, and post-installation considerations, simplifying your decision-making process.
Get the Free Guide How many fixtures will I need?
Professional sports lighting contractors create a photometric study for each lighting installation to make sure that the lighting system provides adequate illumination (output and uniformity) for your sports facility’s needs. The result of the study is essentially a 3D rendering of your sports lighting configuration that takes into account required lighting levels, beam angles, light pole positions, and the number of light fixtures needed.
Calculating manually the number of fixtures needed can be a daunting task. In the end, it is a function of the size of the total area to be lit, the level of competition at the facility (brightness level requirements vary between recreational and collegiate greatly), the height of the light poles, and the efficacy of the LED sports lighting fixtures.
How LED Sports Lighting Fixtures Work
LED fixtures are powered by one or more circuits, depending on the size of the facility and its light needs. The electricity is then converted into light energy by a semiconductor chip inside each LED fixture.
This process produces no heat or infrared radiation, so cooling equipment is unnecessary, making LEDs safer than other lighting sources. Additionally, the light is more directional and can be tailored to meet your needs.
If upgrading an existing lighting infrastructure, you can use some or all of your current framework. Your poles or towers may be able to accommodate new LED systems, so be sure to consult a professional before making any changes.
The biggest step in planning is establishing how many fixtures you need to create an even lighting system. A professional should be able to help you decide the quantity and placement of your lights based on your facility’s size, shape, and sports requirements.
Benefits of LED Sports Lighting Fixtures
LED sports lighting solutions offer numerous benefits to any facility. In addition to reduced energy consumption, improved visibility, and versatility, LED fixtures are cost-effective and easy to maintain.
The long life expectancy of LEDs can save you money on replacements and repairs over time. And with advanced control systems, you can adjust your light levels depending on the time of day or particular event requirements.
When planning and budgeting for a new lighting system, you must consider costs throughout the lifespan. Since you won’t need to replace your LED lights for many years, your long-term savings will cover the initial investment.
LED sports lighting is also a great option for facilities that want to reduce their carbon footprint and become more sustainable. LEDs are incredibly energy efficient and can help you reach your sustainability goals quickly and easily.
Overall, LED sports lighting fixtures provide a cost-effective solution with low maintenance needs, improved visibility, and increased versatility. With the right lighting solution, you can create a safe and enjoyable playing environment for athletes of all levels.
LED sports lighting companies
Engaging with LED sports lighting companies at the initial stages of comparing different lighting providers is a wise decision. These companies offer specialized knowledge about the latest LED technologies, energy efficiency, and installation nuances. By initiating conversations early on, facilities can gain a clearer understanding of the advantages each company brings, ensuring they make an informed choice. Additionally, early discussions can lead to tailored solutions that best fit the facility’s needs. Thus, for a comprehensive comparison and to reap the full benefits of LED sports lighting, it’s essential to consult with these experts from the outset.
Pro tip: If you are currently looking for a reliable and knowledgeable sports lighting vendor, try our sports lighting partner finder and get connected with suitable lighting partners.
Get Your LED Sports Lighting Project Started
We’ve created a comprehensive set of tools designed to assist facility managers and project planners in initiating their projects and connect them with the professionals in the industry.
Get a cost estimate for your LED sports lighting project
Are you ready to get started with your LED sports lighting project? An estimate of the price will help you plan more effectively and thoroughly.
Before you begin, finding an installation provider that knows your local area and your use case is crucial and can help you make critical decisions. We’ve created an easy-to-use cost calculator to help you start on the right path.
Just fill out some basic information, and we’ll give you an estimate that you can use to begin your planning. Plus, we’ll put you in contact with some of the top lighting professionals in your area – ensuring the success of your project.