For the first time, the University of Northern Colorado football team will play under lights at Nottingham Field this season in Greeley.
The university announced Friday afternoon the project is official, though the first date the lights will be used for a game remains unknown. The football team opens its season at home in late August. The athletic department will know more once the Big Sky Conference — UNC’s primary league — completes its television schedule later this year.
“The addition of lights to Nottingham Field will transform the entire UNC community and their experience around our football program,” UNC athletic director Darren Dunn said in a news release. “The ability to host games and events under the lights creates new energy, new traditions, and new opportunities for our student-athletes and fans. I am so thankful for our generous donors and sponsors who made this facility enhancement a reality.”
The team was notified of the lights Friday afternoon during a team meeting in McKee Hall on campus. UNC athletic department social media posts showed the players erupting in applause and cheers gathered in a large lecture room.
“Yeah, about time,” safety Franky Morales said after Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage to end the spring season. “Yeah, it’s going to be a good atmosphere.”
The effort to bring lights to the stadium resurfaced earlier this year. The athletic department proposed to the university board of trustees an estimated $1.6 million, privately funded project. There have not been lights at the stadium since it opened in 1995.
The trustees approved the plans at their Feb. 20 meeting, then leaving the completion of funding to allow for lights this season. Backup documentation ahead of the meeting indicated a decision had to be made by April 1 with four conditions in place if the lights would be available this year. The project was finalized after the completion of the agreement with Musco Sports Lighting, headquartered in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
Those conditions were:
- Final confirmation and approval of scope and technical requirements from the selected vendor;
- Project approval from the Office of the State Architect;
- Full cost not to exceed $1.6 million;
- Funding commitments or pledges for the project cost prior to starting with 50% or more of the funding to be receiving by December and the rest no later than December 2028.
More than one-third of the project cost was secured by the UNC Athletic Department and university advancement before the project was presented to the board of trustees. The backup documentation said work would continue to raise $1 million from targeted 1- to 3-year pledges from key donors and sponsors.
Those documents also said all of the cost will come from private philanthropic support and sponsorship revenue. No university money is to be used.
The UNC football and track and field teams use the 8,533-seat stadium on the west side of campus on 17th Avenue near Reservoir Road.
“I think it’s going to be a good thing for our football team,” Bears head coach Ed Lamb said. “Certainly, it adds excitement to the games. I think our fans are going to enjoy that. I know that there are a lot of youth football leagues around the Greeley area, the Northern Colorado area, that have their games on Saturdays during the day. So we’ll be able to get a lot of that subset of the community out.”
Lamb said coaches on the football staff have eight or 10 of their own children who often play sports Saturdays during the football season and can’t attend their fathers’ games.
“Overall, could be a really good thing for the community,” Lamb added.
UNC football teams had lights when the program was based at Jackson Field, Dunn said earlier this year. On 17th Avenue south of Nottingham Field, the practice fields have lights because the Denver Broncos needed lights when the team was based in Greeley for training camp. There are also lights on two other practice fields used by the football team closer to Bank of Colorado Arena.
A few Greeley residents living near Nottingham generally spoke in favor of lights at the stadium around the time the lights project was presented to the UNC board of trustees.
UNC Bears Athletics approved for lights at Nottingham Stadium
The lighting system will have technology for optimal visibility, energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact, aligning with UNC’s commitment to sustainability and innovation, the release said. The technology will also limit the light spilling into the nearby neighborhood.
The UNC football team opens its 12-game season Saturday, Aug. 29 against Big Sky opponent Weber State. Game times have not been set.
UNC is the last school in the Big Sky Conference to have lights at its stadium, according to backup documents on the project. The proposal said the lights are essential to maintain the level of competition and perception within the conference.
Big Sky deputy commissioner Dan Satter said Friday the conference is pleased with the move, adding lights at the stadium “instantly gives UNC more flexibility in scheduling and other programming (certainly with game times).” Satter also said the lights allow UNC to be a more attractive candidate to appear on ESPN linear broadcasts as the football program continues to improve.
UNC was 4-8 overall in 2025 and 2-6 in the Big Sky. The four wins is the most for the program since 2016, which was the second of back-to-back winning seasons at 6-5. Those are the only winning seasons in the program’s Division I history.
“Kudos to President (Andy) Feinstein, Darren Dunn and Coach Lamb for continuing to work on this initiative — we are happy for them that others saw the light of their vision. Pun intended,” Satter said.
Satter said the conference usually releases its full TV schedule in July, around the dates of the conference preseason media day. Games to be played on ESPN could be released at an earlier date depending on ESPN, he added.
