I'm the quality manager at a sports lighting manufacturer. Every lighting design that goes to a customer crosses my desk first—roughly 200+ proposals a year. In 2024, I rejected 18% of first-pass designs, and the reasons were almost always the same: incomplete specifications, miscalculated mounting heights, or photometric data that didn't match the actual site.

Most of those proposals use Musco lights, because that's what we make. So let's get one thing out of the way: the brand doesn't skip the checklist. Neither should you.

Here's the six-step checklist I run on every project, in the order I run it.

1. Lock Down the Illuminance Target Before You Look at Fixtures

The most common mistake I see is starting with hardware instead of numbers. People ask "how many fixtures do we need?" before they've answered the only question that matters: "what light level does this venue actually require?"

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) publishes recommended illuminance levels for sports venues, and they vary a lot by sport and level of play. In my opinion, the IES target is the only honest starting point. A Musco little league lighting system, for example, doesn't need to hit the same foot-candle targets as a televised pro stadium. Designing to the top tier when you're lighting a youth field means you're paying for light you'll never use. (I've watched this happen more times than I can count, and it's a hard conversation to have after the concrete is poured.)

Before you evaluate a single proposal, write down three numbers:

  • Average horizontal illuminance (foot-candles or lux)
  • Uniformity ratio (max-to-min)
  • Glare rating or spill-light limit

If a proposal doesn't state these numbers, send it back. It's that simple.

2. Verify Mounting Height and Pole Placement Early

The second step is also the most ignored one. Mounting height is not a cosmetic decision. It determines whether the light lands where it should, whether glare bleeds into neighboring properties, and whether the design meets code at all.

I've reviewed designs where the specified poles were sized for a 70-foot mounting height—but the site's setback rules capped them at 50. The photometric report was technically valid. For a field that didn't exist. The whole design had to be redone.

The same logic applies at every scale. I've had to remind people choosing a patio chandelier that chandelier height is the spec that makes or breaks the install. Hang one lower than 7 feet over a seating area and it becomes a glare hazard; put the same fixture at 8 feet or above and it works as proper ambient light. The fixture looks identical in both positions. The height is the difference between decorative and functional.

So when a lighting package lands on your desk, check the mounting heights against the actual site—not the assumed site. That one verification catches more errors than any other step on this list.

3. Define What "Smart" Means Before You Buy a Smart Lighting System

I get asked "what is a smart lighting system?" on almost every site visit. The honest answer: it's lighting plus a control network, so fixtures can be programmed, monitored, and automated—instead of relying on physical switchgear or someone remembering to turn the lights off at 10:30.

At the stadium scale, that means scheduling field lights by calendar, dimming for lower-level events, and getting alerts when a fixture faults. It saves real money on energy and maintenance. But here's where my quality instincts kick in.

A smart system is only as good as the operational plan around it.

Who has access? Who gets the alerts? What happens if the network drops? I've seen projects where the "smart" controls were installed and then nobody took ownership of them—which is worse than a manual switch, because you assume it's working until it isn't.

When you evaluate a smart lighting system, look for three things: remote scheduling capability, fault monitoring, and a manual override. If all three exist and your operations team knows how to use them, you have a genuinely smart system. If not, you have a marketing label.

4. Demand the Photometric Report—and Actually Read It

The photometric file (usually an IES file) is the most skipped document in lighting procurement. Everyone reads the brochure. Almost nobody reads the data that shows where the light actually lands for a given fixture, pole height, and layout.

Everything I'd read early in my career said photometric files were a formality. In practice, I've caught more errors in the photometric data than in any other document in a proposal. That's not a coincidence. It's because nobody checks it.

I read it at the exact configuration being proposed: same fixtures, same poles, same aiming angles. Then I check three numbers:

  • Average maintained foot-candles across the field (must meet the target from step 1)
  • Uniformity ratio (worse than 3:1 is noticeable on a playing surface)
  • Spill light beyond the property line (this is where neighbor complaints come from)

The question everyone asks is "how many lumens does the fixture produce?" The question they should ask is "where does the light land, and what's left over at the edges?" I do not approve a design without that document. Ever.

5. Inspect the Foundation and Installation Plan Before Pouring Anything

The surprise on most projects isn't the fixture cost. It's the foundation. I've rejected pole foundations because the anchor bolts were out of tolerance by more than half an inch—which sounds small until you try to set a 70-foot pole on it. That mistake cost a client three weeks and a full re-pour.

Review the site work with the same attention as the hardware:

  • Anchor bolt placement and concrete mix spec
  • Curing time before pole erection (do not rush this)
  • Access for cranes or lift equipment during install and future maintenance

An excellent lighting system on a poorly built foundation is just a liability with good optics.

6. Test With a Light Meter After Commissioning

The final step separates serious operators from everyone else: verify the installed performance. I trust photometric reports, but I verify them with a light meter on site.

Walk the turf at the grid points from the design and compare the measured values to the report. I look for agreement within 10 percent. If the numbers come in lower—or uneven where they should be even—the usual culprits are aiming angles, voltage drop, or fixtures mounted in the wrong orientation.

So glad I did this on one project last summer: the contractor had aimed every fixture by eye, and the field measured 25 percent below spec. Because we caught it in the first week, it was a two-day fix. If we'd skipped the verification, it would have been a season-long complaint. (Honestly, I almost skipped it. That would have been an expensive "almost.")

Common Mistakes I Keep Seeing

Some issues repeat so often I'm starting to think they're structural:

  • Glare is treated as an afterthought. Spill light and glare are far easier to solve in the design phase than after a neighbor files a complaint.
  • Energy claims are taken at face value. "Green" and "energy efficient" need to be quantified. Per the FTC Green Guides, environmental claims should be substantiated—so ask for the actual wattage and efficacy numbers, not just a label.
  • Maintenance access isn't planned. If replacing a fixture requires a specialized lift, that's an ongoing cost and an access requirement. Write it into the budget before the project closes.

The Value of Knowing Your Lane

Here's the last thing I'll say, and it's the one I feel strongest about. When a supplier tells you "this isn't what we do, here's who you should call," they earn trust. The vendor who admits boundaries is the vendor I believe when they promise quality inside their lane.

It works in both directions. Sports lighting—the kind designed for Little League fields and pro stadiums—is a specialized discipline. It's not the same as choosing a patio chandelier or fixing a residential lighting problem, and they shouldn't be treated as the same decision. (And if you are buying a patio chandelier, repeat after me: below 7 feet is a hazard, above 8 feet is a light source.)

The best lighting package is the one where every number was checked, every height was verified, and every claim was substantiated. Whether it's Musco lights on a Little League field or in an Olympic stadium, run the checklist, skip the assumptions, and you'll be fine.