Adelaide Oval unveils multi-million-dollar LED tower lighting upgrade

December 29, 2023

Adelaide Oval has today unveiled a new $5 million LED upgrade to its tower lighting system, making it the only major stadium in Australia with tower lights equipped with both immaculate white sports lighting and full colour ‘light show’ capabilities.

The LED system replaces high intensity discharge (HID) lighting that was last updated in 2014 as part of the Adelaide Oval redevelopment. LED allows for two things - instant switch on and off of a focused, consistent lighting level across the field of play, as well as new capabilities including colour, flash and animation. The new lights will also use approximately 40% less power than their predecessors, contributing to Adelaide Oval’s sustainability goals.

The new full colour lighting capabilities will be debuted at the ever-popular New Year’s Eve BBL fixture, which will this year see the Adelaide Strikers take on the Melbourne Stars with a headline performance by Grinspoon.

Advising that the upgrade would deliver significant benefits for patrons, the venue and the South Australian events calendar, Adelaide Oval Chief Executive, Nick Addison stated “Adelaide Oval has a well-earned reputation as a world-class events and entertainment destination and this upgrade goes a long way to keeping us at the forefront of stadia globally.

“We are committed to continually reinvesting in our fan experience to ensure it’s the best it can be, while also delivering on our goals across technology and sustainability.

“The opportunities this opens up are really exciting - both in terms of giving fans an electric event day experience and helping us attract new and different events to South Australia.”

Installation was completed in just 11 weeks by a project team of 30 full-time experts, led by South Australian electrical solutions company CME and longtime Adelaide Oval project management partner Mott MacDonald, with lighting supplied by Signify Australia.

Abseiling up and down each tower, the team manually switched over the globes and support system while retaining the existing light tower structures.

Sports lighting specialist KOJO will program and operate the new lights as an extension of Adelaide Oval’s existing AV capabilities.

Addison went on to say “the previous stadium lighting system was the right solution at the time and has served us well for over a decade.

“LED has since evolved to become the gold standard, and we need to invest in the very best to keep Adelaide Oval and South Australia competitive in the national and international events market.

“The team has done an exceptional job to deliver this in such a tight timeframe without disrupting game days or daily operations.

“As far as we’re concerned Adelaide Oval is one of the world’s best and most iconic stadiums, and we’re determined to keep it that way.”

Images: The Adelaide Oval's new LED tower lighting upgrade. Credit: Adelaide Oval/Matt Turner.

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