First LED floor installed in an NBA basketball court in US

An LED floor has been installed for the first time in a US basketball arena.

The LED court at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will host this month’s NBA All-Star Weekend.

Visual effects will include design and colour changes, live replays and video content, real-time match stats, player-tracking animations and interactive games for fans at timeouts. Sponsors’ logos and graphics will also be displayed.

The modular court has been created in panels by German-based ASB GlassFloor. The panels comprise LED lights topped with two layers of 5mm laminated safety glass. The surface is etched with ceramic dots that provide grip and friction in the same was a maple court would.

Carlton Myers, the NBA’s head of live production and entertainment, told Forbes that LED courts have been under consideration for about eight years, but the technology wasn’t there.

“Things that would normally appear on a jumbotron will now appear on the floor alongside the live action,” he said. “It is basically limitless. Any design you want, you can put on there.”

Myers added that it was imperative that the LED floor would not be utilised in a way that would distract the players. “While a player is shooting a basket, you won’t see anything on the floor that is dynamic,” he said. “After the ball goes in, that’s a different story. We can enhance those moments.”

Last year, an ASB glass floor was used during the U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain.