Lighting up the sporting scene

The world of sport is no longer alive merely during daylight hours. Thanks to progressive companies like Musco Lighting, sports fans can view their favourite games in the hours of darkness too.

Casting some light on what makes Musco Lighting the number one in its field is Paul Milton’s business. It is obvious in speaking to the General Manager of Musco Lighting’s European office that his passion for Musco is as intense and illuminating as their award-winning products themselves. “Musco has built up a tremendous record in the market over the years and we are proud of our pre-eminent position in the lighting business.

“It is a source of great satisfaction to all concerned with Musco that our business continues to grow, year on year, and it is a testimony to the quality of our products that more and more of our customers keep coming back to do business with us,” he explains.

Indeed, when Paul speaks of Musco’s customer base, it would be understandable if he were to dip into the business of some name-dropping because some of Musco’s long-time customers could be extricated from a who’s who of worldwide commercial leaders.

For instance, Musco Lighting was selected to light Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, which hosts over 100 events each year.

The facility, which provides facilities for more than 30 sports, including a professional baseball stadium, multi-sport fields, beach volleyball courts etc. has proven to be exceptionally popular sinceits opening in 1997, thanks in part to the expertise of Musco Lighting - the exclusive sports lighting provider for the 200-acre complex.

Headquartered in Iowa, United States, the world famous manufacturing company established itsEuropean headquarters in Nottingham some eight years ago although the parent company was actually founded all of 27 years ago.

In world terms, there are few more professional, expert operators in the lighting field than Musco Lighting. Specializing in the unique field of sports lighting, Musco ranks above such industry luminaries in the U.S as Philips.

In Irish industrial parlance, the company is a relative rookie but its share of the market has been steadily increasing since it first entered the sports lighting market in 1999.
Over the past 12 months, the company’s presence in the Irish market has become particularly pronounced. In that period of time, the firm has carried out some ten to twelve high-profile projects for such “lighted” concerns as Waterford Institute of Technology, Leisureworld in Co. Cork, Sligo
Institute of Technology, University College Dublin (tennis courts), Killorglin Intermediate School in Co.Kerry and Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

So how does Paul view the domestic Irish market for quality lighting?
“The outlook is very positive for the market and for our ability to exploit the opportunities that are out there.

“In my view, there is a massive, untapped market in Ireland, especially concerning the opportunities for working with GAA clubs and county boards in the installation of suitable floodlighting facilities.
“The fact that we have just been awarded a contract to install floodlighting facilities at Pairc Ui Rinn in Cork is something which we’re very pleased about and thankful to the GAA there.

“We see our success in being afforded the opportunity to work in upgrading the facilities at Pairc Ui Rinn as hopefully being the start of many more worthwhile business dealings with other sections of the GAA in Ireland and even abroad. Musco were delighted to supply a temporary floodlight system to light the first ever UK based GAA match which took place on Friday 23 November in London.

“We’re very keen on expanding our administration to Dublin. We feel business here will grow at a fairly substantial rate and we believe that us having an Irish sales team based in Dublin would help us greatly in exploiting the demand for the sort of top quality lighting we supply. Perhaps the recruitment of a well-known figure in GAA circles would give us a leg-up in terms of sales in Ireland also.”

Even though Musco Lighting only boasts a presence in Ireland for just two years, it’s not today or yesterday that the company sought to help make sport in this country brighter and more enlightening for a sports-mad populace.

Fact is, as far back as 1997 Musco made their presence felt in Dublin by installing temporary floodlighting in Croke Park for an American Football exhibition match which involved Notre Dame College and the American Navy in a high-profile clash.

The team at Musco are very serious about increasing the company’s sphere of influence in the Irish market even if the vast majority of their resources continue to be located off this island. Musco, for instance, boasts a fleet of mobile lighting rigs on a constant basis in Britain - all of which
are continually on hire. In this respect, Musco find themselves in great demand from sports clubs who require floodlighting for a once-off match. Such an arrangement is very appealing to an increasing number of clubs as the deal can be completed at substantially reduced rates.

In this regard, GAA clubs, soccer and rugby clubs etc are increasingly beating a path to the Musco Europe Limited team. Shouldn’t you?