The Portugalete football team, a 3rd league team with an average spectator draw of 4000 people per home match, was interested in installing a flexible lighting system that would help the team attract additional visitors and open up new revenue streams. In addition, the team needed to be able to play at night while adhering to TV broadcasting requirements and league rules for illumination.
Portugalete football club
Bilbao, Spain
“Vision is perfect, without shadows. The playing conditions are really good and we can see from the field that there are more fans in the stands. And with our new lighting, we can now host national matches.”
- Jon Moya, Captain of Club Portugalete
Customer challenge
In Campo de La Florida, the soccer field in Portugalete, a suburb of Bilbao in Spain, the football pitch owners realized they had a serious problem when the team qualified for the Copa del Rey football tournament and a Third Division team was scheduled to play them at home. Until then, the team had always played their matches during the day and had no need for nighttime illumination. But Federation rules required the teams to play at night and in front of television cameras, making it necessary to install a flexible lighting system that could be easily managed and controlled, and is also compliant with broadcasting standards.
Data-driven decisions for improved performance
Interact Sports lighting management software, configured specifically to manage lighting at recreational sports training facilities, proved to be the right solution for the club.
With the option of choosing among different programmable scenes, the lighting management application allows for remote configuration of the lighting and the ability to pre-set light levels for the entire facility. With three distinct light settings, La Florida can adjust lighting levels for match days and training, as well as setting a low light level for cleaning and maintenance purposes. These settings, along with the possibility to light only half of the pitch, contribute to energy savings of 33% for the club compared to the previous lighting system.
Connected LED lighting enables the collection of data, allowing the club to analyze lighting performance and usage, and subsequently make data-driven decisions to improve operations. Outage information can be seen on the Interact Sports dashboard for quick response time and reduced downtime.
The Portugalete football club can now host national matches and is growing their spectator numbers thanks to the new lighting. Furthermore, they’ve reduced energy costs with the installation of LED lighting combined with simple and intuitive lighting controls.
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