76 | SPORTS VENUES 2023/24 www.stadiaworld.com TECHNOLOGY For a long time, the biggest sporting events in the world were also the biggest drivers of stadium landscape development in host countries. With the turn towards sustainability, this has changed. Those who host a World or European Championship alone or together with other countries do not immediately start 10 new construction projects or more as soon as the contract is ceremoniously announced. But this should not obscure the fact that the venues still have to work through extensive catalogues of updates in order to meet the current criteria of the IOC, FIFA or UEFA, for example. And the more the major events became TV events, the more weight was given to the visual impression that the event with its sponsors makes around the globe – and which, as we know, is worth a lot of money. Floodlighting is thus a more important interface from what happens on site in the stadium to its global reception and marketing. Accordingly, pitch lighting is always one of the points where a stadium absolutely needs to make a target-performance comparison when bidding for an international event. The requirements in the Premiere League were very high early on and still are, with Eh >1,650 lux (for comparison: in the Bundesliga it is Eh >1,500 lux). This is only one characteristic value of many, but the minimum horizontal luminous intensity symbolises the general requirement level quite well. In British football, which is marketed at a high price, new installations and retrofits are continuously taking place; here, high requirements can obviously be represented well. The fact that UEFA Elite Level A was raised to 2,000 lux for the top stadiums of the final rounds and finals of European competitions occasionally caused question marks among experts. Not only is a lot of brightness to be achieved, but other parameters of high illumination and colour rendering quality also apply. The increased number of camera positions means that the edges of the pitch are now also important; orthogonal measurement specifications have been included in the catalogue of criteria. Floodlight planning and installation work has thus become more complicated. Although a new system had, among others, already been installed in Dortmund in 2019 with a view to the UEFA Elite Level of EURO 2024, other final round stadiums have now followed with their updates to the peak values of Eh >2,000 lux. Some new constructions outside the circle of UEFA EURO venues ensured that Germany has recently seen a particuFloodlight: Germany ahead of UEFA EURO 2024 The European Championship is currently causing a wave of retrofitting and new installations in the host country Germany. The trend towards coloured light and show compatibility continues here and everywhere. Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt: The lighting contract was not awarded to one of the world market leaders. UEFA Elite Level A requirements Variable Requirements Eh > 2,000 lux Uniformity U1h Uniformity U2h > 0.50 > 0.70 Ev -0° (0° to reference layer) Ø min > 1,500 lux > 1,000 lux Uniformity U1v-0° Uniformity U2v-0° > 0.50 > 0.60 Ev -90° (90° to reference layer) Ø min > 1,500 lux > 1,000 lux Gleichmäßigkeit U1v-90° Gleichmäßigkeit U2v-90° > 0.50 > 0.60 Ev -180° (180° to reference layer) Ø min > 1,500 lux > 1,000 lux Uniformity U1v-180° Uniformity U2v-180° > 0.50 > 0.60 Ev -270° (270° to reference layer) Ø min > 1,500 lux > 1,000 lux Uniformity U1v-270° Uniformity U2v-270° > 0.50 > 0.60 Flicker factor (FF) Ø max < 3 % < 3 % Minimum adjacent uniformity ratio (MAUR) > 0.60 ≤ 10 deviation Colout temperature (Tc) 5,000 – 6,200K Colour rendering (Re) ≥ 80 Re Glare rating (RG) < 50 Maintenance factor (MF) 0.90 LED 0.80 HID Eh = Average horizontal illuminance Ev = Average vertival Illuminance Source: UEFA Picture: imago/osnapix
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