Bridgestone Arena to Install LED Lighting from Ephesus Lighting

Ephesus Lighting, the leader in developing digital lighting solutions for sports arenas, stadiums, and fields of all sizes has been selected to create an LED arena lighting solution for Bridgestone Arena, home of the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators and the host site for the 2016 NHL All-Star Game. The announcement of the switch to LED lighting was made by Mike Lorenz, president of Ephesus Lighting, and Tim Friedenberger, vice president of facility operations for Bridgestone Arena.

"Since we illuminated the first sports arena in North America with an LED lighting solution in 2012, facility operators have come to understand that our digital lighting solutions create the optimal stage for fans and performers," Lorenz said. "Our success at venues of all sizes has established a new standard of what fans, performers, television broadcasters, and facility operators expect from lighting."

Bridgestone Arena, a multi-purpose facility located in downtown Nashville, has been the home ice of the NHL's Nashville Predators since the team's inception in 1998. The arena, which was named Pollstar's 2014 Venue of the Year, also hosts a variety of other major events including; the SEC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament, the Country Music Academy Awards, and concerts for many of the biggest names in music.

"The combination of the improved lighting and fan entertainment elements coupled with the environmental benefits and lower operating costs made this solution an easy choice to add to our upgrades to the Bridgestone Arena this summer," Friedenberger said. "We are especially excited about showcasing the new system during NHL All-Star Weekend, when the eyes of the hockey world are upon Nashville."

The Ephesus Lighting LED solution features Ephesus' color-tuning fixtures in the arena as well as Prism full-spectrum color luminaires both inside and outside of the arena to allow for the creation of colorful light shows and other lighting experiences. These luminaires will be controlled by an advanced DMX system to create these unique effects. Despite reducing the number of luminaires by half, the new system is projected to improve the light levels to over 200 foot-candles on the surface while yielding a projected energy savings of more than 75 percent.

"The system provides us greater control over the lighting than ever before," Predators senior director of broadcasting and entertainment Bob Kohl said. "Everything will look better and crisper for fans at the arena, viewers watching at home, and the players, who will appreciate the elimination of shadows and glare on the playing surface."

Ephesus Lighting says the company has led the LED lighting explosion at sports and entertainment facilities across North America by engineering LED lighting solutions that provide a significant increase in illumination when compared to all other lighting systems. Ephesus' LED lighting is brighter, and through its glare-control innovations, its luminaires shine more uniformly on the playing surface, creating a better stage for players and fans both in the stadium and those watching on high-definition television. The versatility of LED also allows for operational flexibility and the creation of programmable light shows for fan entertainment. Ephesus LED solutions are easy to install, maintenance-free for years, and offer facilities the lowest total operating costs.

Since lighting the first sports venue with LED technology in North America in 2012, Ephesus Lighting luminaires have been operational for over 20 million hours at indoor and outdoor sports and entertainment venues across North America including; University of Phoenix Stadium, the Canadian Tire Centre, Duke University, Cornell University, and many more.