Night game
Encyclopedia
A night game is a sporting
event that takes place, completely or partially, after the local sunset. Depending on the sport, this can be done either with floodlights
or with the usual low-light conditions.
The use of floodlights in cricket
matches has helped to bring much investment into the game both at a national and an international level since it began in 1977. Today floodlit (day/night) cricket is played in most of the test playing nations although some nations have only started hosting day/night matches in the last 10 to 12 years. Many important tournaments like Indian Premier League
and Champions League Twenty20 have become success due to night games.
Cricket
was first played under floodlights on Monday, August 11, 1952 in England which was watched by several million
people on their television
sets. Since then every test playing country has installed floodlights in their stadiums. Traditional Cricket floodlights have a long pole on which lights are fixed. This is done because many times the ball travels too high when a batsman hits it and high lights are needed to keep the ball in sight. But many cricket stadiums have different types of floodlights like ANZ Stadium in Australia
, stadiums in New Zealand
etc. The DSC Cricket Stadium
in Dubai
recently installed Ring of Fire system of floodlights which is latest and smartest system of floodlight in the world.
of the Negro Leagues, who carried portable lights around on their team bus, against the House of David baseball team. The first night game in Major League Baseball history occurred on May 24, 1935 when the Cincinnati Reds
beat the Philadelphia Phillies
2-1 at Crosley Field
. The original plan was that the Reds would play seven night games each season, one against each visiting club. Night baseball quickly found acceptance in other Major League cities and eventually became the norm; the term "day game" was subsequently coined to designate the increasingly rarer afternoon contests.
The last non-expansion/non-relocated team to play all their home games in the daytime were the Chicago Cubs
; they played their first official night game in Wrigley Field
on August 9, 1988, and beat the New York Mets
6-4. The Cubs still play the fewest home night games of any major league club.
The first night All-Star Game
was held at Philadelphia's Shibe Park in 1943
, while the first World Series
night game was Game 4 of the 1971 Series
at Three Rivers Stadium
in Pittsburgh. All World Series games have been night games since Game 6 of the 1987 series
.
. The first night football game
was played in Mansfield, Pennsylvania
on September 28, 1892 between Mansfield State Normal
and Wyoming Seminary
. The world’s first night football game ended bitterly at halftime in a 0-0 tie..
In 1893 at the Chicago's World Fair
, the Chicago A. A. played a night football game against West Point
. Chicago won the game 14-0. The game lasted 40 minutes.
The first night football game west of the Mississippi was played in Wichita, Kansas
in 1905 between Cooper College (of Sterling, Kansas) and Fairmount College (now Wichita State University
).
Automobile races at night can take on two different forms. Sports car
races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans
and rally races such as Monte Carlo Rally
manage to continue running through the night by having the competing cars utilize headlights.
The alternate possibility involves installing a system of flood lights along the circuit to illuminate it for cars that do not have headlights. The lights must be designed to diffuse light over a large space to reduce glare on both windshield
s and a driver's visor. Systems such as this have been common in short track racing for many years. The night NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway
's half-mile track in Tennessee
is among the most popular events of the season. The first modern oval track over 1 mile (1.609 kilometers) long to install a lighting system was Charlotte Motor Speedway
in 1992. NASCAR
sanctioned races have been held at night for many years due to systems like these. MotoGP held its first night race at Losail International Circuit
in 2008. Formula One
held its first night race at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
.
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
event that takes place, completely or partially, after the local sunset. Depending on the sport, this can be done either with floodlights
Floodlights (sport)
Floodlights are broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial lights often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions....
or with the usual low-light conditions.
Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
matches has helped to bring much investment into the game both at a national and an international level since it began in 1977. Today floodlit (day/night) cricket is played in most of the test playing nations although some nations have only started hosting day/night matches in the last 10 to 12 years. Many important tournaments like Indian Premier League
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...
and Champions League Twenty20 have become success due to night games.
Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
was first played under floodlights on Monday, August 11, 1952 in England which was watched by several million
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...
people on their television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sets. Since then every test playing country has installed floodlights in their stadiums. Traditional Cricket floodlights have a long pole on which lights are fixed. This is done because many times the ball travels too high when a batsman hits it and high lights are needed to keep the ball in sight. But many cricket stadiums have different types of floodlights like ANZ Stadium in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, stadiums in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
etc. The DSC Cricket Stadium
DSC Cricket Stadium
DSC Cricket Stadium also known as the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium is a description of a new multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is mainly be used for cricket. It opened with the Australia vs Pakistan ODI series that started on April 22, 2009. It has a capacity of 25,000...
in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
recently installed Ring of Fire system of floodlights which is latest and smartest system of floodlight in the world.
Baseball
Although night games played under artificial illumination dated back to the 1880s and were introduced in minor league baseball in the late 1920s, they were initially dismissed as an unwelcome gimmick by the big-league clubs. The first big-league team to play games at night was the 1930 Kansas City MonarchsKansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro Leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri and owned by J.L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J.L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time...
of the Negro Leagues, who carried portable lights around on their team bus, against the House of David baseball team. The first night game in Major League Baseball history occurred on May 24, 1935 when the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
beat the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
2-1 at Crosley Field
Crosley Field
Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second and third American Football League...
. The original plan was that the Reds would play seven night games each season, one against each visiting club. Night baseball quickly found acceptance in other Major League cities and eventually became the norm; the term "day game" was subsequently coined to designate the increasingly rarer afternoon contests.
The last non-expansion/non-relocated team to play all their home games in the daytime were the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
; they played their first official night game in Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
on August 9, 1988, and beat the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
6-4. The Cubs still play the fewest home night games of any major league club.
The first night All-Star Game
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
was held at Philadelphia's Shibe Park in 1943
1943 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over St. Louis Cardinals *All-Star Game, July 13 at Shibe Park: American League, 5-3-Other champions:*Negro League World Series: Homestead Grays over Birmingham Black Barons...
, while the first World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
night game was Game 4 of the 1971 Series
1971 World Series
The 1971 World Series matched the defending champion Baltimore Orioles against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the Pirates winning in seven games. Game 4, played in Pittsburgh, was the first-ever World Series game scheduled to be played at night....
at Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's Major League Baseball franchise and National Football League franchise respectively.Built as a replacement to...
in Pittsburgh. All World Series games have been night games since Game 6 of the 1987 series
1987 World Series
The 1987 World Series pitted the Minnesota Twins versus the St. Louis Cardinals.Minnesota was victorious in a World Series that was the first in which the home team won every game...
.
American football
The term has also been adopted by other outdoor stadium sports such as American footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. The first night football game
1892 Wyoming Seminary vs. Mansfield State Normal football game
The 1892 Wyoming Seminary vs. Mansfield State Normal football game, played September 28, 1892, was the first-ever American football game played at night. The game was played between Wyoming Seminary and Mansfield State Normal School in Mansfield, Pennsylvania...
was played in Mansfield, Pennsylvania
Mansfield, Pennsylvania
Mansfield is a borough located in southern Tioga County, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Tioga River valley. It is situated at the intersection of U.S. Route 6 and U.S...
on September 28, 1892 between Mansfield State Normal
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania is one of the fourteen state universities that are part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The University is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher...
and Wyoming Seminary
Wyoming Seminary
Wyoming Seminary, founded in 1844 and currently led by President Kip P. Nygren, is a private college preparatory school located in the Wyoming Valley of Northeastern Pennsylvania, in Kingston and Forty Fort It is near the Susquehanna River and the city of Wilkes-Barre...
. The world’s first night football game ended bitterly at halftime in a 0-0 tie..
In 1893 at the Chicago's World Fair
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, the Chicago A. A. played a night football game against West Point
Army Black Knights football
The Army Black Knights football program represents the United States Military Academy. Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946....
. Chicago won the game 14-0. The game lasted 40 minutes.
The first night football game west of the Mississippi was played in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
in 1905 between Cooper College (of Sterling, Kansas) and Fairmount College (now Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
).
Motorsports
Sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
and rally races such as Monte Carlo Rally
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
manage to continue running through the night by having the competing cars utilize headlights.
Windshield
The windshield or windscreen of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike or tram is the front window. Modern windshields are generally made of laminated safety glass, a type of treated glass, which consists of two curved sheets of glass with a plastic layer laminated between them for safety, and are glued...
s and a driver's visor. Systems such as this have been common in short track racing for many years. The night NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961...
's half-mile track in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
is among the most popular events of the season. The first modern oval track over 1 mile (1.609 kilometers) long to install a lighting system was Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...
in 1992. NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
sanctioned races have been held at night for many years due to systems like these. MotoGP held its first night race at Losail International Circuit
Losail International Circuit
Losail International Circuit is a motor racing circuit located just outside Doha in the Persian Gulf State of Qatar.Built in just under a year by 1,000 workers at the cost of $US 58 million, the track opened in 2004 to the inaugural Marlboro Grand Prix of Qatar, won by Sete Gibernau...
in 2008. Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
held its first night race at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
2008 Singapore Grand Prix
The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, formally known as the 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, was a Formula One race held on 28 September 2008 at the newly built Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore...
.
External links
- Baseball-Almanac.com - First home night game for each Major League team