Musco Lighting

Musco Sports Lighting, LLC

Company type| Private
Genre| Sports lighting, mobile lighting, motion picture lighting, event lighting, and industrial lighting
Founded| 1976
Headquarters|

Oskaloosa, Iowa

United States

Area served

| Worldwide
Website| musco.com

Musco Lighting, often referred to as Musco, is a privately-held company that specializes designs and manufactures sports lighting, transportation and infrastructure lighting, automated sports broadcasting, and modular sports venue products. The company's headquarters are in Oskaloosa, Iowa, with manufacturing plants in Muscatine, Iowa; Incheon, South Korea; and Shanghai, China. Musco also has offices throughout North America, Europe, Central America, the Middle East, and Australia.

## History

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### 1980s

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Entering the 1980s, Musco worked to improve its SportsCluster system, while developing a mobile sports lighting product. In 1980, the team tested its original mobile lighting system at the University of Iowa's Kinnick Stadium. Two years later, executives from ABC Sports, who had been at the system's test in Iowa City, contacted Musco about utilizing the company's mobile lighting at Notre Dame Stadium for a game the following season between the University of Notre Dame and the University of Michigan.[1][2][3]

Throughout the 1980s, Musco's mobile lighting system, which was named the Musco Light, was used at other venues, events, and on the production sets of motion pictures, including All the Right Moves.[4]

Later in the decade, Musco introduced the SportsCluster2 system, along with new technologies designed to reduce glare including its Level-8 and Total Light Control products.[citation needed] The company began work on a complete-system approach, in which it would oversee the manufacturing of its own poles and pre-cast concrete base. Other events that featured Musco's lighting that decade included the 1983 Super Bowl, the 1984 Olympic Games,[5] and the rededication ceremony for the Statue of Liberty.[6]

### 1990s

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The company's Light-Structure System was installed at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the 1992 Little League World Series.[7] This led to a partnership between Musco and Little League Baseball and Softball focused on player safety initiatives.[8]

Also in 1991, Musco was contacted by NASCAR to develop a lighting system for a race the following year at Charlotte Motor Speedway.[9] It would be the first night race in NASCAR history.[10][11] To help development of the system, Musco built a 50:1 scale model of the track at its manufacturing plant in Iowa, and company co-founder Myron Gordin enrolled in the Richard Petty NASCAR driving school to witness the demands of sight lines at high speeds. The project led to the creation of Musco's Mirtran system, which featured lights that were aimed away from the track onto secondary, ground-level mirrors that bounced the light back onto the racing surface. The project earned Musco an IES Illumination Award for Outdoor Lighting Design by the Illuminating Engineering Society.[12]

Throughout the 1990s, Musco's Mirtran technology was installed at other NASCAR tracks, including Richmond Raceway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Daytona International Speedway.[13][14] The decade also brought about the company's first global expansion, with a lighting system installed at Dunstall Park Wolverhampton Racecourse in England. Queen Elizabeth II attended the unveiling event and dedicated the new lighting at the track.[15]

In 1995 when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was bombed in a domestic terror attack, members of Musco's mobile lighting team were dispatched to the site.[16]

### 2000s

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On September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, several of Musco's mobile lighting trucks assisted with rescue and recovery efforts at both sites.[17]

In 2006, Musco started the development of a lighting system to be donated for use at the Washington Monument, adapting its Mirtan technology to be applied vertically to illuminate the monument's façade.[18]

In 2008 Musco started research and development on the utilization of light emitting diodes (LED) as a light source for sports fields and other large outdoor applications. Later that year, Musco donated a custom LED system for use in lighting the façade of the White House.[19]

At the close of the decade, Musco installed Mirtran systems at Losail International Circuit[20] in Qatar and Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.[21]

### 2010s

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In 2010, Musco partnered with the National Park Service in the construction of a Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, donating lighting systems for the Memorial Plaza, public areas, and paneled wall inscribed with the names of the passengers and crew of United Flight 93.[22]

Also in 2010, Musco engineered a lighting system using LED light source technology to be installed at the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.[23]

In 2013, Musco installed an LED sports lighting system at Arizona State University's Wells Fargo Arena.[24] Over the next few years the company would install LED systems at LakePoint Sporting Community in Emerson, Georgia; NRG Stadium[25] in Houston, Texas; Petco Park[26] in San Diego, California; Daikin Park[27] in Houston, Texas; and at Twickenham Stadium.[28] and Emirates Stadium[29]

In 2017, TLC for LED systems were installed at three Major League Baseball stadiums, four National Football League stadiums, and four National Basketball Association/National Hockey League arenas. That same year, in partnership with the U.S. Soccer Foundation's It's Everyone's Game movement, Musco engineered the Mini-Pitch System, a modular mini soccer pitch used to expand recreational opportunities for youth in underserved communities.[30][31]

Musco also installed systems at Notre Dame Stadium,[32] L.A. Memorial Coliseum,[33] Wimbledon Centre Court,[34][35] AO Arena Manchester, and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.[36] The TLC for LED system was also installed at several collegiate stadiums, high school stadiums, Little League fields, parks and recreation fields, and at major airports and port terminals including Vancouver International Airport,[37] Los Angeles International Airport, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas,[38] and DP World Jebel Ali Port Terminals 1 and 2.[39]

### 2020s

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In 2021, Musco installed its TLC for LED and ShowLight systems at a newly-build stadium in Dyersville, Iowa, adjacent to the field featured in the motion picture Field of Dreams. On August 12, 2021 Major League Baseball staged the MLB at Field of Dreams[40] event at the newly built stadium.

Projects for the company in 2022 included the installation of a custom TLC for LED system at Manchester United FC's home ground Old Trafford.[41]

In 2024, Musco installed a TLC for LED system at Red Bull Arena, home of the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.[42]

## References

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1. ^ "1982 vs. Michigan – 125 Years of Notre Dame Football – Moment #026". September 18, 2012 – via und.com.
2. ^ "First Night Game At Irish Stadium". UPI.
3. ^ "This Day in History: ND Turns on the Lights". 125.nd.edu.
4. ^ Chase, Donald (August 1983). "Musco Lighting for All the Right Moves and die hard". American Cinematographer. Vol. 64, no. 8.
5. ^ "Olympic Stadium Lighting is Made in Iowa". Good News Network. July 28, 2012.
6. ^ "New LED Lighting System Will Illuminate Statue of Liberty July 7 – Statue Of Liberty National Monument". U.S. National Park Service.
7. ^ League, Little. "Musco Lighting".
8. ^ League, Little. "ASAP".
9. ^ "'One Hot Night': Impact of 1992 All-Star Race still felt 25 years later". 19 May 2017.
10. ^ ""One Hot Night" Charlotte Motor Speedway". American Galvanizers Association.
11. ^ "One Hot Night: 1992 NASCAR All-Star Race". 24 May 2015 – via YouTube.
12. ^ ""One Hot Night" Charlotte Motor Speedway Lighting". American Galvanizers Association.
13. ^ "Lighting for Daytona 500". stadiaworld.com.
14. ^ "Lighting Daytona Is a Massive Undertaking". us.motorsport.com.
15. ^ "About Us". www.wolverhampton-racecourse.co.uk.
16. ^ Behrens, Salena (September 25, 2017). "Company co-founded by Drake Law alumnus provides lighting around the world".
17. ^ Holland, Angie (8 September 2016). "Lighting up the night on 9/11". Oskaloosa Herald.
18. ^ "How to Illuminate Architecture". ThoughtCo.
19. ^ Bush, Steve (January 14, 2016). "LEDs light US icons".
20. ^ "Losail International Circuit". RacingCircuits.info.
21. ^ "Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management and Musco Lighting Announce Partnership Extension". yasmarinacircuit.com.
22. ^ "Musco Lighting To Donate Services – Flight 93 National Memorial". U.S. National Park Service.
23. ^ Wright, Maury (June 24, 2014). "Cree and Musco light Bay Bridge with LEDs, Musco wins sports complex project". LEDs Magazine.
24. ^ "LEDs light up Wells Fargo Arena". November 5, 2013.
25. ^ "LED-Lighting for NRG Stadium". stadiaworld.com.
26. ^ "San Diego Padres Install LED Sports Lighting in Petco Park". electronics360.globalspec.com.
27. ^ "LED Sports Lighting Installed in Houston Astros' Minute Maid Park". electronics360.globalspec.com.
28. ^ Anderson, Gary (June 5, 2014). "American firm to light up home of English rugby with innovative LED system". insidethegames.biz.
29. ^ "Arsenal to install new floodlights". Arsenal to install new floodlights.
30. ^ "Musco Lighting 'light' up in-need kids' lives". March 11, 2021.
31. ^ "U.S. Soccer Foundation Launches It's Everyone's Game, A National Effort To Increase Access To Soccer Programming" (Press release) – via prnewswire.com.
32. ^ "U Notre Dame Powers up Football Stadium with LED Lighting System -". Campus Technology.
33. ^ "Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Upgrades to LED Lighting". electronics360.globalspec.com.
34. ^ "Wimbledon's Centre Court Gets Lighting Upgrade". Architect Magazine. 15 July 2017.
35. ^ "StackPath". ledsmagazine.com. 5 July 2017.
36. ^ "Musco shines a light on new Tottenham stadium". The Stadium Business. April 11, 2018.
37. ^ Lopamudra (May 25, 2017). "Vancouver International Airport installs new apron LED lighting system". Airport Technology.
38. ^ "Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport Retrofits Lighting for Quality, Efficiency, and Reduced Maintenance". Airport Improvement Magazine.
39. ^ "Leading Innovation in Large Area Lighting" (PDF).
40. ^ "Muscatine-based lighting company brings movie magic to Field of Dreams ballpark". wqad.com. August 11, 2022.
41. ^ "Musco to light up 'Theatre of Dreams'". The Stadium Business. June 4, 2021.
42. ^ "New York Red Bulls Announce New Enhancements To Red Bull Arena". New York Red Bulls. March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Musco Lighting.

* Official website