A night game, also called a nighter, is a
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
ing event that takes place, completely or partially, after the local sunset. Depending on the sport, this can be done either with
floodlights
A floodlight is a broad-beamed, gas discharge lamp#High-intensity discharge lamps, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is Night game, being held during low-li ...
or with the usual low-light conditions. The term "night game" is typically used only in reference to sports traditionally held outdoors. Although indoor sporting events often take place after local sunset, these events are artificially lighted regardless of the time of day they take place.
Baseball
![Night game fenway park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Night_game_fenway_park.jpg)
A baseball game was played under electric lighting in 1880, the year after
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...
invented the
light bulb
An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...
. It was an experimental game between two
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
teams, and it would take another fifty years before
organized baseball
The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...
would sanction night baseball. There were a couple of exhibition night baseball games in the early 1900s between organized baseball teams. One of them was in 1909, and the other was in 1927, but the games did not count in league standings. Even though the games were between professional teams, they were unofficial experiments and did not count as the "nocturnal first". In 1929, the president of the Des Moines, Iowa baseball club announced to the National Association convention he was going to play night baseball in 1930. However, the first official minor league night game actually took place in
Independence, Kansas
Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,548. It was named in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence.
History
Independence w ...
on April 28, 1930.
An article in the April 1931 edition of ''
Baseball Magazine
''Baseball Magazine'' is a now-defunct baseball magazine, the first monthly baseball magazine published in the United States. The magazine was founded by Boston sportswriter Jake Morse prior to the 1908 season. It continued publishing until Se ...
'' stated that Independence was the first team in America to play a league night baseball game. After the game in Independence, night baseball "spread like wildfire" across the minor leagues. In addition to that, in 1935, ''
The Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
'' pointed out that Des Moines, Iowa was not the first to install permanent lights, but it was in fact Independence that did so. By the end of the 1934 season there were sixty-five minor league teams with permanent lights installed on their fields. The light towers installed in Independence in 1930 were removed and scrapped in June 1990.
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...
, an Independence Yankee in 1949, played under the historic lights.
Lighting technology had significantly improved since the 1927 night game exhibition. After fifty years of experiments, a new era in professional baseball was about to start. The
Independence Producers The Independence Producers were a minor league baseball team based in Independence, Kansas, United States, that played from 1921 to 1925 and from 1928 to 1932. From 1921 to 1924, they played in the Southwestern League, and in 1925 they played in t ...
of Independence, Kansas were a Class C minor league baseball team that played in a stadium known now as
Shulthis Stadium. They purchased lights from the Giant Manufacturing Company and installed permanent lights on their field. When Independence played the night game on April 28, 1930, it made Independence the birthplace of professional night baseball. By the end of the 1930 season there were thirty-eight minor league teams with lights installed on their fields.
Independence played the first night game in the history of Organized Baseball on April 28, 1930. The term Organized Baseball refers to Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball games. Organized Baseball games must follow specific rules in order to be Organized Baseball games. The Commissioner of Baseball has authority over Organized Baseball. Independence lost the league game to the Muskogee Chiefs by a score of 13–3. Independence had previously played an exhibition game against the House of David, a professional baseball team, but the game did not qualify as an Organized Baseball game. Independence did however defeat the House of David with a score of 9–1.
Since Independence had played a night baseball game before any Major League teams did so, the first night game in the history of Organized Baseball took place in Independence, Kansas. Numerous references, photos, and media clippings discussing the first night Organized Baseball game are available can be found on websites.
After the 1930 game in Independence, night baseball did spread to other countries. The first night game baseball game in Canada took place in Vancouver, Canada in 1931. In 1933 Japan played their first night baseball game, and Cuba did so in 1937.
The first big-league team to play games at night was the 1930
Kansas 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 193 ...
of the Negro leagues, who often played against the
House of David baseball team, who carried portable lights mounted on trucks along with their team bus.
The Monarchs first night baseball game was on April 28, 1930. It was an exhibition game in
Enid, Oklahoma
Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...
against
Phillips University
Phillips University was a private university Enid, Oklahoma. It opened in 1906 and closed in 1998. It was affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It included an undergraduate college and a graduate seminary. The university wa ...
. The first night game in Major League Baseball history occurred on May 24, 1935 when the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
beat the
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
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
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
; they played their first official night game in
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...
on August 9, 1988 and beat the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
6–4, one night after their initial attempt at night baseball (against the
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
) was rained out before it became official.
The Cubs still play the fewest home night games of any major league club (35 per season, as of 2014).
The first night
All-Star Game
An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
was held at Philadelphia's
Shibe Park
Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...
in
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 – ...
, while the first
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
night game was Game 4 of the
1971 Series at
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 of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).
Built ...
in Pittsburgh. All All-Star Games since
1969, and all World Series games since Game 6 of the
1987 Series, have been played at night.
Cricket
![Trent Bridge at Night](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Trent_Bridge_at_Night.JPG)
The use of
floodlights
A floodlight is a broad-beamed, gas discharge lamp#High-intensity discharge lamps, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is Night game, being held during low-li ...
in
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
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
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
and
Champions League Twenty20
The Champions League Twenty20, also referred to as the CLT20, was an annual international Twenty20 Cricket competition played between qualifying domestic teams from some major cricketing nations. The competition was launched in 2008 with the f ...
have become success due to night games.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
was first played under floodlights on Monday, August 11, 1952 in England which was watched by several
million
One million (1,000,000), 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'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the au ...
people on their
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
sets. Since then every test playing country has installed floodlights in their
stadiums
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
. 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
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...
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
ANZ may refer to:
People
* Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician
Banks
* ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia
** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand
...
in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, stadiums in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
etc. The
DSC Cricket Stadium
The Dubai International Stadium, formerly known as the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is mainly used for cricket and is one of the three main cricket stadiums in the country, the ...
in
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
recently installed Ring of Fire system of floodlights which is latest and smartest system of floodlight in the world.
Gridiron football
The term has also been adopted by other outdoor stadium sports such as
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
and
Canadian football
Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...
. The first
night football game was played in
Mansfield, Pennsylvania
Mansfield is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough located in east-central Tioga County, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Tioga River (Chemung River), Tioga River valley. It is situated at the intersection of U.S. Route 6 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Route ...
on September 28, 1892 between
Mansfield State Normal and
Wyoming Seminary
, motto_translation = Truth, beauty, and goodness
, address = 201 North Sprague Avenue
, location =
, region =
, city = Kingston
, county = Luzerne
, st ...
. It 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
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
. Chicago won the 40-minute game 14–0. On November 21, 1902, the
Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...
of the
first National Football League defeated the
Kanaweola Athletic Club, 39–0, at
Maple Avenue Driving Park in the first professional football night game. The first night football game west of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
was played in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
in
1905
As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...
between Cooper College (now
Sterling College of
Sterling, Kansas
Sterling is a city in Rice County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,248. Sterling is home to Sterling College.
History
For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by Native Ame ...
) and Fairmount College (now
Wichita State University
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
).
The first NFL game played at night was in 1929 when the
Chicago Cardinals
The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons.
Roots ca ...
played the
Providence Steam Roller
The Providence Steam Rollers (also referred to as the Providence Steam Roller, the Providence Steamroller and the Providence Steamrollers) were a professional American football team based in Providence, Rhode Island in the National Football Leagu ...
.
Motorsports
![Le Mans Pits at Night](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Le_Mans_Pits_at_Night.jpg)
Automobile races at night can take on two different forms.
Sports car
A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
races such as the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
and rally races such as
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...
manage to continue running through the night by having the competing cars utilize
headlights
A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...
.
The alternate possibility involves installing a system of
flood light
A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...
s 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
The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...
s and a driver's visor. Systems such as this have been common in
short track motor racing
Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic ...
for many years. The
night NASCAR race at
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. Bristol is among the m ...
's half-mile track in
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
is among the most popular events of the season. The first modern
oval track
Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traff ...
over 1 mile (1.609 kilometers) long to install a lighting system was
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...
in 1992.
lowesmotorspeedway.com
"History" Retrieved 8/30/08 NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
sanctioned races have been held at night for many years due to systems like these. MotoGP
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...
held its first night race at Losail International Circuit
The Losail International Circuit or Lusail International Circuit (Arabic: حلبة لوسيل الدولية) is a motor racing circuit located just outside the city of Lusail, north of Doha, Qatar.
Built in just under a year by 1,000 workers ...
in 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
. Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
held its first night race at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
References
External links
{{Commons category, Night games
Baseball terminology