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

The Adelaide Oval has unveiled a new $5 million LED upgrade of its light towers, now equipped with both immaculate white sports lighting and full colour ‘light show’ capabilities.

The new LED lighting replaces the high intensity discharge (HID) lighting that was last updated in 2014 as part of the Adelaide Oval major redevelopment.

The new full colour lighting capabilities will be debuted at Sunday’s New Year’s Eve BBL fixture between the Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Stars.

While not the first Australian stadium to feature light towers with LED sports lighting and coloured LED lighting, it is the first major stadium to feature the technology and incorporate LED lights and screens throughout the venue to create a spectacular light show. The WACA Ground unveiled its new lights in December last year as part of its redevelopment.

Adelaide Oval CEO Nick Addison said the upgrade would deliver significant benefits for patrons, the venue and the South Australian events calendar.

“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,” Nick said.

“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 long-time 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.

The new LED lighting on the four light towers complement the existing LED lighting located within the roof structure installed back in November 2017, and have since enabled spectacular light shows at events incorporating the LED perimeter fencing and video screens.

LED sports lighting 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.

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

“The previous stadium lighting system was the right solution at the time and has served us well for over a decade,” Nick said.

“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.”