Wolves and hometown fans will be dramatically lit this season

Dramatic new LED lighting at Target Center promises to help deliver a slam-dunk experience for basketball fans.

Fresh off advancing to the Western Conference finals last season for the third time in franchise history, the Timberwolves are hoping to make an even deeper run this season, and they have a new lighting system that could help.

Under new owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, the Wolves have upgraded this key technical element at Target Center, which is the NBA’s second-oldest arena, with the aim of improving player performance and the fan experience by boosting the energy of both.

The new Musco Sports Lighting system, which fans will see in person and on TV for the first time during Sunday’s home opener against the Indiana Pacers, is meant to make the game a more absorbing and lit experience.

“This lighting design enhances the big-game feel while preserving the close bond between the team and our fans, bringing energy, focus and a sense of spectacle to every Timberwolves and Lynx game,” said Matt Caldwell, CEO of the Musco franchises.

St. Paul’s Ordway Center installed a new, upgraded lighting system over the summer at its main stage, and fans of its Broadway shows noticed right away the immediacy and intimacy that the lights brought.

Lighting closed the distance between the stage and the audience and heightened the mood and atmosphere.

The lighting system at Target Center was last upgraded nine years ago, according to a Wolves official. Seriously outdated, it didn’t have the flexibility or capacity to create the same level of focus and amp up crowd energy.

The new system has 336 lights — 83 more than what it replaced. Some 260 of those are focused specifically on the court and 108 on the crowd. The lights themselves are tunable and use 40% less energy.

“We can darken the crowd and keep the focus on the court — just like going to a concert or Broadway show,“ said Patrick Rees, Wolves chief communications officer.

But the crowd won’t be entirely in the dark. The first five to 10 rows around the court are partly lit.

“We want our players to be able to see the fans and their reaction,” said Sheridan West, the Wolves’ vice president of live programming. “So, when Ant [Anthony Edwards] has a big basket or dunks on someone, we want him to be able to feed off that fan energy.”

“This new lighting is not something that people may have felt they needed, but once they see the difference it makes and the atmosphere it can create, they’ll be happy to have it,” Timberwolves chief marketing officer Mike Grahl said.

The Wolves finished last season as one of the top four teams in the league, and the new lighting keeps them in elite company. Only a handful of NBA arenas, including Crypto.com Arena, Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center, have the advanced Musco setup.

A privately held Iowa company, Musco does lighting for sports arenas, entertainment venues and airports across the world, including in Dubai, Australia and the United Kingdom. Notably, they did lights for St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center, now known as Grand Casino Arena.

After they began installing the system at Target Center, their work had to be delayed because of the Lynx’s shortened run in the playoffs.

Now, as the Wolves get ready to rumble, spectators can feel closer to the action.