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Super Bowl XLI

Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, USA

Over 93 million viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl XLI in Miami’s Dolphin Stadium on February 4, 2007, making it the second most-watched telecast in the game’s history. Not only did the players make key plays, but so did Color Kinetics’ intelligent LED illumination.

Prior to the big game, members of the press from around the world descended upon Dolphin Stadium for Media Day. Eric Hanson of Brite Ideas was tasked to create the right lighting scheme for the interview kiosks. The year prior, the kiosks were illuminated with incandescent sources, which emitted a lot of heat and produced glare that became uncomfortable for the players and coaches during the day-long media event. LED sources seemed an ideal alterative to mitigate the problem.

Hanson was looking for a low-profile and light weight fixture, and required a higher color temperature than most incandescent sources. In addition, the kiosks would be used indoors after the game for additional press interviews, so the fixtures needed to produce the right color temperature to match the HID or fluorescent fixtures used for general lighting in the stadium. Hanson chose iW™ Blast 12 Powercore to meet all of his needs. The highest-intensity offering in Color Kinetics’ IntelliWhite™ series, it offered the desired output level while allowing color temperature control within the range of 3000 – 6500 Kelvin – shifting from “warmer” to “cooler” white light as needed. In addition, thanks to Color Kinetics’ Powercore® technology, the iW Blast 12 fixture integrates power and data management directly into the fixture, eliminating the need for an external power supply.

During Media Day, 14 kiosks were set up on the Dolphin Stadium field in a linear fashion. Each kiosk had two iW Blast 12 Powercore fixtures mounted on the top of the kiosk frame to properly light the players and coaches for on-camera interviews. All 28 fixtures ran on one single circuit and were controlled by Color Kinetics’ iW Scene Controller, which adjusts both color temperature and brightness. During the post-game interviews inside the stadium, the fixtures’ color temperature was easily altered to suit the interior environment.

City Theatrical, a designer and developer of unique LED lighting accessories for Color Kinetics fixtures, came through in the clinch by providing Hanson with lenses and accessory holders on short notice.

Color Kinetics’ LED lighting fixtures were specified for additional applications both on and off the field during the big game. Outside Dolphin Stadium, ColorBlast® 12 fixtures provided a wash of color to the stadium’s entryway, and over 500 ColorBlast 12 units were used to outline Prince’s uniquely-shaped stage during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show. To create the stage, specially-designed light boxes were constructed to form Prince’s famed “symbol.” The stage’s steel frame boxes were enveloped in custom-cut plastic covers and ColorBlast 12 units were installed to light them from within, creating wide bands of color-changing light around the edge of the stage.

Although the Indianapolis Colts captured the coveted NFL title in Super Bowl XLI, Color Kinetics’ intelligent LED systems had an MVP performance.