ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) — If you feel there's something different about the games you'll see at Busch Stadium this year, there'll be a good reason for that.
In addition, the longevity of the lights means there's less labor required to replace and maintain the lights. The existing lights required maintenance and replacement every five years.
"The guys have to climb the towers every pre-season, check the fixtures, and re-lamp (as needed). We have fully replace them every five years, so that's hundreds of thousands of dollars every five years we have to do."
The fans, both watching at home or at the game itself, will also notice a big difference. The new lights will also allow the Cardinals to provide theatrical lighting effects and themes for things like home run celebrations and other big events during a game.
"We're starting to see that within Major League Baseball," Abernathy pointed out. "They're using it for bringing guys in from the bullpen, home runs, victories...the in-game entertainment guy should have a lot of fun with this!"
For ultra-slow motion replays, the new lights will improve broadcast quality for HD and 4K TVs, including eliminating the flickering that often happens during ultra-slow replays.
Players and staff will also benefit from the new lights. The quality of light will be 90% of the quality of natural light with improved uniformity, reduced shadows, reduced glare, and providing a more visually comfortable light.
"They've done some great glare-reduction in these new lights," Abernathy noted. "Plus, we have more fixtures to aim, so it should be easier to distribute the light more uniformly."