VIDEO: Super Bowl 2015 lit entirely by LEDs

Sunday's Super Bowl match, which was watched by more than 100 million people worldwide, was the first to be lit entirely by energy-efficient LED lights.


New York-based LED company Ephesus installed 312 new LED fixtures at the 72,000 seat University of Phoenix stadium, which played host to the Super Bowl XLIX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. (Scroll down for video).

The stadium’s new lighting system replaced 780 metal halide bulbs, saving 75-85% of power – almost a million watts. Ephesus Lighting’s president Mike Lorenz said the Super Bowl’s estimated global audience of 110 million people provided the perfect platform to showcase the LED technology.

“We targeted the University of Phoenix, we knew they were going to hold the Super Bowl in 2015. For us it was a great place to demonstrate our technology to a worldwide audience, especially in light of the fact that two years ago the lights went out at the New Orleans Superdome and it took twenty minutes for the lights to come back on,” said Lorenz.

Rigorous environments

Although the cost to buy and install the LEDs is greater than for traditional lights, it costs much less to run them. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the LED lighting costs about $47 per hour to light the field, compared to $186 per hour using halide bulbs.

This is the first time the technology has been used to light a stadium on this scale but Ephesus has previously lit outdoor training grounds for the US army and plants for Chrysler, the paper industry, the steel industry and in food manufacturing.

Although a first for the Super Bowl, this is not the first time LEDs have lit a stadium pitch. Last year Southampton Football Club installed a complete LED floodlight system, making St Mary’s stadium the first LED-lit stadium in Europe.

On the field, the New England Patriots were crowned Super Bowl champions, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.

Lucinda Dann

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