A lot of attention gets paid to the darkness of a primetime game, but just as critical is its opposite: light. Against a dark blue-black background, a stadium illuminated brings the drama. Call it science or art, but there seems to be something fundamental to how light and dark stand separate and dance together that adds to the energy of a Monday night, Thursday night or Sunday night game.
Northwest Stadium in 2025 has offered a perfect example of how captivating and electrifying an arena can be on one of these occasions. Fireworks shot in the air. Sections of the crowd alternating between being spotlit and obscured. Bright gold W's framing the player entrance, and flames that jump on the upper ribbon encircling the bowl.
The set of primetime home games for the Commanders this year has given the team a unique opportunity to be creative with light. A collaborative effort led by Washington's game presentation department, the execution of these moments has underscored an increased investment in the in-game entertainment and fan experience at Northwest Stadium.
Since Josh Harris and new ownership bought the team in July of 2023, they have invested more than $120 million to improve the team's facilities and fan and player experience. Alongside things like new player lockers, premium spaces, and enhanced food and beverage offerings at Northwest Stadium came upgrades to mechanical and sound systems tied to the game presentation's function.
"Last year was the first year since the stadium has been open that we could actually turn the lights on and off in a very fast capacity," Washington's Senior director of game presentation Darius Smith said. "We used to have the really old school lights that took 30 minutes to warm up and turn on. Through [Commanders' Managing Partner] Josh Harris' continued investment in the stadium and the fan experience we went to full LED lights at the beginning of last season."
Stepping into a new era of Northwest Stadium lighting capabilities, 2024 was about getting a feel for and having fun with the new toys. Week 8 that season delivered a moment that no doubt dropped a few hundred stomachs around the arena when, in the second half against the Bears, the lights abruptly went out.
"Crazy experience at the stadium tonight," season ticket holder Chris Bryant posted on X. "The whole stadium got pitch black and red warning signs popped up on the jumbotron. Then a a light show came on. It was sick."
"Really cool light show at Northwest Stadium," NBC Sports' JP Finlay wrote. "When the lights went out, I think we were confused for a second but it was dope."
When the game presentation team was first discussing how to roll out the new light capabilities, they talked about "playing up the fact" that no one had seen anything like this happen at the stadium before.
"We wanted fans to think that something was wrong," Smith said. "We built out the video as if it was kind of glitching out, and all of the visuals on the video board were kind of glitching out. And then we basically shut everything down. We gave it about five seconds and then that's when we came back out to this kind of synchronized hype video with the lights and things like that. We knew we wanted it to feel very dramatic."
The use of light returned against the Falcons in the final home game of 2024, which would decide Washington's playoff fate. However, that production came together quickly because it was announced just 12 days prior that the originally-scheduled 1 p.m. game would instead be primetime. With the flex came a milestone moment: for the first time Northwest Stadium would be able to go dark during player introductions. It set the tone for perhaps the loudest, highest energy home game of the season.
Use of and excitement around the lights had come in, well, flashes in 2024. However, timing aspects – whether that be early kickoffs or a two-week flex notice – somewhat limited what game presentation could do with them. The run to the 2024 NFC Championship game would change that.
Because of last year's incredible season, the team was given more primetime games in 2025. Here came a chance the game presentation team had never been given: they had months to plan goosebump-inducing displays with the lights. Outside inspiration mixed with Washington-specific flair and creativity from the game presentation group helped formulate the ideas for the 2025 light shows.
"I think when you look at all the great work that other teams are doing, not only in the NFL but across all sports, whether it's the World Cup, the Olympics, the NHL or the NBA, you just see how the buildings look when you're watching on TV," Smith said. "I think that in our circle of game presentation personnel across the league, we know that those are little moments that one, are going to have a tremendous amount of impact when you just see a unified lighting experience with your fans, but then it's also something that fans can take home and kind of always remember that moment. So that's really where I think the wristbands came from."
The LED wristbands were the in-game entertainment darling of the Commanders' first home primetime clash of 2025. The game presentation team worked with Canadian-based company PixMob, a global leader in the space, to execute the wristband show for the "Conquer the Night" themed matchup against the Bears.
"It's all based off of wireless frequencies, and they [PixMob] are able to program custom looks through their mixing console. They're able to push out the different scenes and colors to the different places around the building," Smith said. "From our perspective, it's fun because you get to plan, 'Hey, when do we want it to light up burgundy vs. gold vs. white,' and then we use that to balance like, 'Well, what's on the screen? What's on the LED ribbons? … So that's really where the creative vision kind of comes in."
For the MNF game against Chicago, approximately 60,000 LED wristbands were used at Northwest Stadium. Making sure that the wristband show was at its full brilliance required a lot of hands. Many of those came from the Commanders' guest services team who jumped on the task of activating the tens of thousands of wristbands in the immediate lead-up to the game.
"The light-up wristbands only last a certain amount of time. The night before we had to pull every single tab of every wristband, put them into these clear bags and then we put those in big, huge bins and placed those at different entrances at all the gates," Brittany Brown, Washington's Director of Guest Experience, explained. "We had a crazy operation in West End Zone. It was like a well-oiled machine in there."
Rainy conditions forced the operations team to pivot from putting the wristbands in cupholders at seats to having guest services hand them all out. "Know Before You Go" communications from the team and social media discourse helped get the word out about what was in store. The display was a success as the wristband show got the stadium buzzing before kickoff and throughout the game.
"We're loving the Coldplay effect," season ticket member Susan Kinnan said. "It's brilliant."
Also during that game, Washington debuted a brand-new moment that electrified the crowd. Darrell Green came out in the blacked-out stadium with a spear and led a "Raise Hail" chant.
"Bringing Darrell Green out for the chant was honestly the best thing I've seen done for fans in a while and I think that these are things that can continue to help us stay engaged in games and that can give us our own sense of new rituals," Washington fan Douglas Williams said.
For the game against the Seahawks, the game presentation team knew they wanted to go big with the lights while also keeping the show fresh.
"That was full laser projection mapping. We wanted to make sure that we could visually tell the story of Art in a way that was unique," Smith said. "Quite frankly, I don't believe that any other NFL team specifically has done that sort of laser projection mapping on the field yet. So, that one was awesome, and that came with a lot of work of how we tell the story, how do the visuals that are being projected matchthe narration of the video and how do both play with one another."
The images laser-projected on the field during the first-of-its-kind jersey retirement ceremony at Northwest Stadium included Monk's figure running, the #81 with Monk's signature, the three Lombardi trophies Monk won as well as his career accolades. To cleanly bring that show to life, the game presentation had to work with the broadcast crew, guest services, security and ticketing department. Camera setup had to be adjusted. Fans had to be guided on a specific path to and from their seats to avoid the lasers.
While the game against the Bears and Seahawks featured the biggest light show moments, fans who have been at any Commanders game that runs into the night this season have experienced sprinklings of other impactful light experiences. Among them is an increased pageantry around "The Show," which takes place 20 minutes before kickoff.
"It's a really, really good show in the daytime with the storytelling and the special effects, but we knew that if given the opportunity to have a primetime game, we wanted to make that moment be a can't-miss experience for the fans, get them in early, get them into their seats, give them something to be excited about," Smith said.
Diving into the origin of the Commander, the story that plays on the video boards masterfully works with light and dark. The candle and lantern elements pop as a shadowy figure makes his way through a dim fortress to the war room where a spear is housed. The spear, driven into a marble block, surges with fire. It's all complemented by what's happening on-field as Command Force dances with lit-up pom-pomsand the Marching Band plays in lit-up hats.
"I think it's great. It gets me really amped up for the game," Washington fan Benjamin Bonner said after "The Show" for the game against Denver. "I really enjoy the atmosphere and the ambience it creates."
Making Northwest Stadium the best place it can possibly be while the team calls it home is the goal. Whether it's a mascot vs. kids football game, the full-field American flag or LED wristband show, game presentation and its partners within the organization have worked diligently to ensure that a fan who comes to Northwest Stadium will leave with memories outside of football.
"What I have noticed is how much thought and effort has been put into the fan experience at home games," Williams said. "I have been a season ticket holder for about four seasons now and with the new ownership you can see the commitment."
With the standard set, the creativity will continue to flow and the envelope pushed. Smith and his team are excited to ideate and innovate in looking ahead to the seasons remaining at Northwest Stadium and beyond with the eventual move to the new state-of-the-art home at the RFK site.
"That's the fun part is now it's back to the drawing board about how we can grow and improve, especially in the opportunities that we have and how can we make the games that aren't necessarily night games feel equally as impactful," Smith said. "We want to make sure that fans, especially Commanders fans, want to come out and experience that for years to come."
