Light the Beam at Home: How Sacramento Fans Bring the Kings Victory Beam Home

If you live anywhere near Sacramento, you know what happens after a Kings win: a purple beam shoots into the sky above Golden 1 Center, and a lot of the city takes a moment to look up. It is one of the few sports traditions that is also a lighting design, and it makes a fair question for anyone who loves the team. Can my house do that?

This post is the story and the how. If you only want the product page, go straight to our Kings purple house lights page. I am Clark, and for more than ten years we have been lighting homes across Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado counties. Team colors are one of the things people ask about most once they understand what a permanent system can do. This guide covers how the beam started, how fans have copied it, and how to build a Kings purple look that works for the whole season, and beyond it.

The Beam Became a Sacramento Tradition

The victory beam debuted in the 2022 to 23 season. According to ESPN's history of the beam (an ESPN story republished by ABC30), the idea traced back to the purple cabin lighting on Virgin America flights, and the team ended up with a 300 watt laser beam fired from six laser cannons and approved by the FAA. It was lit after Kings wins until midnight Pacific time.

At first nobody noticed. The season's first win came in the afternoon on October 29, so the beam went mostly unseen, and its first widely noticed night was the Halloween road win at Charlotte. Then the team started winning. A seven game November winning streak built the momentum, fans began chanting "light the beam," and the Kings say stories about it reached roughly 373 million people. The phrase has stayed with the city ever since.

For a lighting company, the lesson is simple. Sacramento fans did not just like the beam. They wanted to be part of it. That instinct is exactly what a well designed home lighting system can serve.

Fans Started Doing It at Home

One of the best examples is a Sacramento couple who built their own beam on their roof. CBS Sacramento reported that Nila Hojman and Ryan Pennington made a homemade version from PVC pipe and purple Christmas lights during the Kings' 2023 playoff series, running it on a smart switch so it came on at night and was visible from a long way off. It was cheerful, low tech and plainly a labor of love. It was also temporary. Homemade rigs like that have to be built, aimed, plugged in and taken down, and they depend on cords, extension reels and a little luck with the weather. A permanent system turns the same idea into something you can run every night without touching a ladder.

The 2026 to 27 Season

The timing is good for anyone thinking about it. The NBA season runs from the fall into spring, so a system installed in November is ready for the holidays, the winter stretch and any playoff push that follows. Pull up the Kings schedule, circle the home games you care about most, and tell us at the site visit so we can build your scenes around them.

Most permanent installs are completed in a single day, according to our permanent lighting page, so you can go from a quote to purple lights faster than most people expect. We do not make promises about wins, of course. We only promise that your house will be ready to celebrate them.

Hosting a Light the Beam Watch Party

Whether or not you have permanent lights, a watch party is where the beam tradition comes alive at home. A few ideas that work well in Sacramento backyards and living rooms:

• Pick the moment. The beam goes up when the final buzzer sounds on a win. Plan your lighting change for that moment so guests see it happen.
• Use the outdoors. Open the patio doors so the game and the lights are part of the same room. Our guide to patio cover and pool lighting shows how backyard scenes work.
• Keep the street in mind. Neighbors who are not fans will still be home. A bright purple look for the win and a return to warm white later in the evening keeps everyone happy.
• Have a plan for away games. Many fans watch from the couch, and the app works from anywhere you have a connection.
• Think about the playoffs. If your team goes deep, scenes you set up in the fall are ready when the stakes rise.

For the full list of game night presets, including how we handle a long playoff run, see our Kings page. And if you are still deciding between temporary and permanent, our Christmas lights vs permanent lighting comparison lays out the trade offs.

Designing a Kings Purple Home

Lighting a house purple is not the same as washing it in purple. The best looks have a plan. Here are the approaches we talk through most often.

The peak accent is the closest thing to a beam on a house, and it works best when the roof has a strong vertical element. If your roofline is long and low, a solid purple line often looks better than forcing a vertical effect that the house does not support. We can mock up options for your own home with the free AI Visualizer before anything is installed. If you are ready to see the full Kings setup, our dedicated Kings game night lighting page covers the presets and Kings country by city.

Getting Purple Right

Purple is a color where details matter. A small shift can turn a rich royal purple into something pink or blue, and different surfaces make it look different. A few things to keep in mind:

• Color is tuned, not guessed. Our system is individually addressable, so we can adjust the exact shade and compare options at night against your actual walls and trim.
• Trim and wall color matter. Purple looks different against white stucco, tan stone, dark brown trim and gray siding. We test on your house, not on a brochure.
• Brightness is a choice. Bright enough to read from the street, not so bright that it overwhelms your neighbors.
• The channel disappears by day. The hardware is finished to match your fascia, so it stays out of sight until you turn it on. See our guide on what permanent lights look like during the day.
• We test before we leave. Before the crew leaves, we run through your colors with you, including your purple, so you see exactly how it looks.

Scenes for the Whole Year

The nicest thing about doing this with a permanent system is that Kings purple is only one scene. The same lights serve the rest of the year, and you change them from your phone.

You switch scenes yourself with a tap on the app. We walk you through the controls on install day, so there is nothing to program in advance. For ideas beyond sports, read why permanent lighting is not just for Christmas, and for a neighborhood example of game day colors, see our post on game day lighting in Blackstone, Whitney Ranch and Treelake Village.

Other Teams, Other Colors

Kings purple is the obvious start, but the same system works for any team. Sacramento is a college town as well as an NBA town, with fans of UC Davis, Sacramento State, the Bay Area teams and plenty of high schools. We have dedicated scene pages for 49ers red and gold, Sac State Hornets green and gold and River Cats summer nights, plus a full list of year round scenes.

• Football season. Switch to your team's colors on Saturdays and Sundays in the fall.
• Graduation season. Light the house in school colors for a party.
• Rivalry weeks. Have two color schemes ready and pick the one that matches the game.
• Mixed households. If the family is divided, scenes make it easy to take turns.

Around Sacramento: What Works Where

Different parts of the region call for different approaches. Here is how I think about it, based on the homes we light.

No matter where you live, the gallery on our permanent lighting page includes a single story Sacramento home lit in Kings purple, plus other team color and holiday scenes. Take a look at our project gallery for more real homes.

HOAs, Neighbors and Etiquette

Purple lights at night are a statement, and a little common sense keeps everyone happy. Many Sacramento communities have rules about exterior lighting and color, so check yours before you plan. Our guide to HOA rules and Christmas lights explains how to approach the conversation, and the same principles apply to team colors.

• Ask first. A short email to the HOA can save a lot of trouble.
• Mind the hour. Most people dim or switch to warm white late at night.
• Keep it tidy. Clean lines and even brightness look better than a flood of color.
• Share the fun. Neighbors who like the team will enjoy it too.

What It Costs

Permanent lighting starts at $2,999 fully installed, and the final price depends on the size and complexity of your home. Our pricing page and permanent lighting cost guide explain what drives it. If you would rather spread it out, our financing options offer financing on projects of $1,000 and up, subject to credit approval, with a soft credit check and no early payment penalty.

Weather, roof and warranty questions come up a lot, so we answered them in two guides: how permanent lights hold up in Sacramento heat, rain and wind and whether permanent lights damage a roof, stucco or siding. Our site currently lists a five year warranty on parts and one year on labor.

For electrical safety, the Electrical Safety Foundation International recommends outdoor rated products and ground fault protected outlets. Ladders are the other hazard, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has estimated more than 15,000 holiday decorating injuries in a single November and December, which is a good reason to leave the roof to professionals.

FAQ: Kings Purple and Team Color Lighting