Germany's stadium to feature animated light show 

Philips, German soccer champions FC Bayern Munich and their home stadium Allianz Arena have formed a partnership that is said to make the stadium the first in Germany, and the largest in Europe, to feature dynamic animated light shows made possible by energy-efficient connected LED lighting. As part of a three-year agreement, Philips will also become a sponsor of the Allianz Arena and the official lighting partner for FC Bayern Munich.

The 71,137 capacity stadium has a facade comprising the world’s largest membrane outer shell, which stands 35 m tall and covers roughly 29,000 m². This will be a gigantic canvas for coloured lighting patterns and even animations. In the future, 380,000 LEDs within 8000 Philips ColorGraze fixtures will allow the arena to showcase more than just static images.

“We will expand the palette from three to 16 million colours,” said Roger Karner, Managing Director of Philips Lighting in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “There will be plenty of light scenarios possible, with which the Allianz Arena will be able to create unique moods.”

The partners have already developed first design studies and will continue to develop them together with the relevant government departments. This latest innovation from Philips is part of a fully connected lighting network. Every single point of light can be precisely controlled in real time. Colour gradients and animated interplays of colour can even be created from within the 1056 illuminated segments that make up the facade.

“The new lighting from Philips will allow visitors and TV viewers to feel the full emotion and dynamism of the match from their very first glance,” said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, CEO of FC Bayern München.

“Philips and FC Bayern will bring the fascination of light to life, not only by live events with the fans inside of the arena,” said Thomas Schönen, Head of Brand & Communications for Philips in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “Together with the FC Bayern Munich, we will develop creative communication concepts for all channels.”

By using controllable Philips LEDs, the stadium hopes to lower the amount of energy it consumes from lighting by around 60%. This amounts to an annual saving of about 362 tonnes of CO₂ . In addition, the long life of LEDs means less maintenance is required. Philips will assume responsibility for comprehensive servicing, from professional lighting designs and project planning through to programming and start-up to maintenance. 

Last month, Philips launched ArenaVison LED - the LED pitch lighting system that provides flicker-free super-slow motion for HDTV - meeting the stringent broadcast criteria of UEFA and FIFA. In Brazil, nine out of the 12 stadiums which will be used this summer for the soccer tournament will be lit by Philips.