Tokyo, Japan - Philips Lighting (Euronext Amsterdam ticker: LIGHT), a global leader in lighting, and Cerezo Osaka, the J1 League soccer club, have signed an agreement in which Philips Lighting becomes the club’s ‘official lighting partner.’ The company plans to provide design, consultancy services and advanced LED lighting technology for the club’s stadium and practice pitches. 

This year, Philips Lighting plans to install its first Philips ArenaVision LED pitch lighting installation in Japan at Cerezo Osaka’s training facility. The LED technology is more energy efficient than conventional pitch lighting and will reduce maintenance costs due to the longer lifetime of the LED lamps (up to 50,000 hours).

Minoru Tamada, President of Cerezo Osaka, commented, "This partnership brings us the expertise and technology of the world’s premier lighting company. Switching to LED technology will help us to promote energy savings and will give our supporters an enhanced stadium experience on a par with top European clubs. We may also explore opportunities beyond pitch lighting, such as the lighting of retail and hospitality areas and façade lighting. Crucial to this agreement was to select a partner capable of offering a complete stadium experience.” 

Kengo Hayashida, President of Philips Lighting in Japan said, “This partnership brings together two great sporting brands. More than 65 percent of the world’s top stadiums use our innovative lighting technology and our latest LED pitch lighting is delighting the fans of top tier clubs such as Ajax, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea FC, Vfl Wolfsburg and Juventus to name but a few. Our partnership with Cerezo will enable us to add considerable value to the club, its supporters and market this amazing opportunity across the region.”

The ultimate fan experience

In the future, it is planned that Cerezo’s stadium will be controlled by Philips ArenaVision software. This will permit the illumination of specific parts of the pitch before or after a football match, enable dimming and the creation of pre-match entertainment. The ability to create dazzling light shows adds excitement and spectacle to the fan experience and supports the multi-purpose use of the stadium for hosting concerts and other events. 

The stadium pitch lighting system will be designed to meet the latest standards of TV broadcasters and sports federations that require high quality lighting for Ultra High Definition television and to capture super slow motion action replays. 

Notes to Editors

Philips Lighting experience in sports lighting

• Philips Lighting has lit major outdoor and indoor sporting events for more than 60 years.
• The company is the world leader in LED and sports lighting and is responsible for the pitch lighting for more than 65 percent of stadiums used in major international sports events.
• 70 percent percent of Barclays English Premier League Clubs are floodlit by Philips Lighting.

About Cerezo Osaka

Cerezo Osaka is a professional football club, established in 1993, with two home towns namely, Osaka City and Sakai City in Osaka Prefecture. Today, with all the clubs focusing on strengthening their team, Cerezo Osaka is focused on not only becoming champions but in developing players of International quality, to become a world-wide team, representing Japan. 

This season, Cerezo Osaka will join the J1 League for the first time in three years and aims for the top rankings. Its top players like Kakitani, represented Japan at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and Yamaguchi and Kiyotake are currently representing Japan.