Commercial category
Sports and Area Lighting
Class of play, spill light at the property line, and what actually decides whether a field plays well.
Need sports and area lighting priced, or just need to know if we can get it? Send the schedule or ask us a question. No charge for a takeoff.
Sports lighting is bought on illuminance and lost on glare. The playing surface is the easy part. What decides whether a project is a success is what happens at the property line, in the neighbours windows, and in the eyes of a player looking up to field a ball.
In South Florida there is a second constraint on top of that. A field near the coast is subject to the same wavelength rule as any other exterior lighting visible from the beach, and municipalities along Broward and Miami-Dade beaches enforce it.
How a sports package is actually decided
- The design reference is ANSI/IES RP-6, Lighting Sports and Recreational Areas, currently the 2024 edition.
- Class of play sets the target, and it is about viewing distance, not budget. The historical RP-6 framework runs from Class I, competition before a large crowd, down to Class IV, recreational play with no spectator provision. The reason a stadium needs more light than a rec field is that a spectator two hundred feet away has to track the ball, not that the stadium is nicer. Confirm the current class definitions against the 2024 edition before designing to them.
- Spill light at the property line is usually the binding number, and it comes from the local ordinance rather than from RP-6. Find that number before selecting fixtures, because it constrains aiming, mounting height and optics all at once.
- Glare control is a design criterion in its own right. RP-6 treats spill light and glare alongside illuminance. Visors, louvres and internal glare control differ substantially between manufacturers and are not visible on a lumen spec sheet.
- Uniformity matters more than average. A field lit to a good average with poor uniformity plays worse than a field lit to a lower average evenly. Ask for the calculated max-to-min and coefficient of variation, not just the average footcandles.
- Mounting height and pole count trade against each other. Fewer, taller poles usually give better uniformity and less glare but cost more per pole and raise the wind load question. In Broward and Miami-Dade the wind load question is not a small one.
- Coastal sites carry the wavelength rule. If any part of the installation is visible from the beach, Florida rule 62B-55 applies and a white source will not satisfy it.
Lines we carry in this category
11 of the 639 manufacturers in our index make sports and area lighting. Each link opens that manufacturer’s page, with the South Florida representative, the territory and how to get it priced.
Not seeing the line you were specified? Search all 639 manufacturers or look up the rep for your territory. We quote lines beyond the ones listed here.
What to send us for a price
- The field or court layout with dimensions, and the class of play or the illuminance target if one has been set.
- Pole locations and mounting heights, existing or proposed.
- The local ordinance limits for spill light and curfew hours, if you have them.
- What sits next to the site: residential, roadway, waterway, or beach.
- Whether the project needs a photometric layout for approval.
Common questions
Do you quote sports lighting for schools and municipal fields?
Yes, as a supplier. Send the layout and the target criteria and we will price the fixtures, poles and mounting hardware from the lines we carry.
Can you provide a photometric study?
We can obtain a manufacturer photometric layout for the system being quoted, which is normally what a municipality wants to see with a permit application. We are not a design firm and we do not seal drawings.
How do I keep light out of the houses next door?
It is decided by three things: mounting height, optics and aiming. Taller poles aimed more steeply put less light over the fence than shorter poles aimed flatter. Fixture selection matters, but aiming and commissioning matter more, and they are the part most often skipped.
Is a field near the beach treated differently?
Yes. If the installation is visible from the beach it falls inside the coastal lighting district and the source has to meet the long-wavelength requirement, not merely be shielded. Tell us the municipality when you send the layout.
Related: Roadway and street lighting · Light poles and structures · High bay and industrial · All categories · Request a quote
Manufacturer lines we carry for sports and area lighting
11 of our lines cover this category. Any of them can be priced from your fixture schedule.
Beacon · Carolina High Mast · Endeavor Lighting · GMR · Green Frog Systems · Jademar Lighting · LuxLogic Lighting · Qualite Sports Lighting · Spartan Sports Lighting · TGS Sports · WiLL | WiLLsport Sports + Industrial
Not seeing a line? The full manufacturer index has all 639, or just send us the schedule.
Ask us about sports and area lighting
Not ready for a full quote? Ask the question. Whether we can get a particular item, what the lead time looks like, or whether there is something comparable we can ship you. We usually come back the same business day.
Or call 786-395-1222, Monday to Friday, nine to five. If you have drawings or a fixture schedule to attach, use the quote form instead.