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By Carly L. Price

Sports arenas and major entertainment venues are facing tough competition — from the home theater system. With the advent of sophisticated, high-quality, affordable technology used in home entertainment, it’s increasingly difficult to lure audiences away from their couches, and when they do attend live events, their expectations are high. With that challenge in mind, facilities are investing more than ever in digital displays and scoreboards in an effort to top the experience consumers get in their own homes.

Daktronics will replace the screen at Heinz Field, home of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, with its latest generation of 4.4 trillion color HD-X LED display, which will nearly quadruple the resolution of the existing display.

“The goal right now in professional sports, and in mainstream major-level college sports, is to try to differentiate themselves from what the experience is for fans when they’re sitting at home watching TV,” says Chris Mascatello, executive vice president of technology sales and service for ANC Sports Enterprises. “There was a time where ESPN and all the broadcast networks were actually delivering a better experience than if you were in the building, which is counter-intuitive. We work to provide all the information you would get from an ESPN ticker and all the pop-ups you get on TV to show that same information to the fans who paid $25, $50, $200 dollars to be in the arena.”

Providing such an experience requires a mix of creativity and technology savvy, not to mention money. But with the right strategy, digital display technology is an investment that can provide immeasurable returns.

LED on the Rise
Since it entered into mainstream use approximately a decade ago, light-emitting diode (LED) technology has reached maturity and is on its way to becoming ubiquitous. LED brought about a sea change in the way display technology was used during entertainment and sporting events.
“Around 1997, LED really started to happen,” says Jim Wood, vice president of national sales for White Way Sign and Maintenance Co. “Every year that technology has grown by leaps and bounds. It’s gotten brighter and more energy-efficient. The last 10 years have just been phenomenal.”

Turner Field’s high-definition screen from Diamond Vision Systems is 71’ x 79’, weighs 50 tons and has more than five million LED lights.

As its popularity has exploded, LED technology has also become far less expensive, allowing smaller facilities and college or even high school sports venues to invest in a technology that was once out of reach. The size and the resolution of LED displays used in many venues is also improving as prices continue to fall, and the amount of LED technology used on a single building has reached unprecedented levels. Many facilities invest in multiple displays, often including an anchor display, a 360-degree display and other displays in between.

“Generally, you’re seeing a trend away from fixed signage to technology-driven scoreboards, meaning all of the board is LED and it gives functionality for sponsorships and scoring and information that previously wasn’t there,” says Jack Bailey, project sales manager for Tube Art Sign and Spots Displays. “This has changed in the past three to five years. Prior to that you would have a video display in the center and static signage, as well as static information above and below the board. Now you’re seeing all of the various pieces on a scoreboard are LED. They’re interchangeable and a lot more pragmatic and user-friendly.”

The newest generation of LED displays allows for “fully integrated content,” which means various types of information can all be displayed simultaneously on the same screen or on multiple screens in such a way that they appear integrated. Although LED is already well established, many experts believe it will continue to be the dominant display technology for years to come, and it will continue to evolve.

“It’s a tested, stable technology,” Mascatello says. “Now the software solutions and the computers that run the software can allow you to window out and do four images at once, or make the screen have picture in picture with a ticker running at the bottom — all those types of innovations you see on TV broadcasts. You’re starting to see this handled with the computer that’s on-site or networked machines within the building.”

Other Emerging Technologies
An even more recent breakthrough in LED technology is the introduction of organic light-emitting diode (OLEDs) displays, which have a different composition than LEDs that renders them lighter and, in some cases, flexible. However, this technology is currently only widely used in small displays (like cell phones and digital cameras) because its life expectancy is still too short for other uses.

The use of high-definition (HD) video displays is also on the rise. Along with this trend, the size of displays is increasing, partly because the quality difference between regular LCD and HD is only noticeable from a distance if the displays are extremely large. The need for such large displays is, in part, what makes HD cost-prohibitive for some facilities. But more and more, especially in major sports, people are beginning to make the investment. “HD plasmas and LCDs are invading homes, and HD production is becoming more common. This creates two concerns for many facility managers: one, it takes more to ‘wow’ a fan with technology; and two, they’re caught in an industry transition from standard definition to high definition,” says Martin Brown, video systems product marketing manager, Daktronics. “This is driving more facilities to pursue higher-resolution LED video displays. The majority are still not true HD, but the resolution keeps increasing across all markets.”

Hype among consumer audiences and media buzz is likely to bring HD to the forefront in the coming years. “If the fan expects to see it at home, you want to give them that same experience and then some in the venue,” Mascatello says. “And in terms of non-sports applications, the shift to high definition catches the eye better, allows for bigger screens and more detail, and you have the ability to put more information on a display at a given time, so that’s important for convention centers, outdoor displays, shopping malls, etcetera. But we’re still on the cusp of high definition becoming ‘the thing.’ ”

Upgrading to a new display system involves updating not just hardware, but also software. Every digital video display system has some software platform underlying it. This allows users to control, time, coordinate and integrate all the display elements at once during a game or performance. “Advancements in application and software evolve faster than does the hardware,” says Mark Foster, general manager for Diamond Vision Systems.

The latest software platforms, like the one ANC Sports Enterprises offers, allow one operator to control the graphics on multiple displays from a centralized place within the building, making it possible to have seamless integration of all the digital displays throughout the facility.

“Usually they’re either in one of the balcony areas of an arena or they’re in the broadcast control room where the front end switching equipment and game production for the main screens goes on,” Mascatello explains. “A lot of the advertising portion of these displays is pre-scripted and tends to be similar from night to night, so the operator can service the advertising portion while also being on the headset and taking cues from the director for certain events.”

The Olympic Oval at Canada’s University of Calgary features an integrated video and scoring display from Daktronics that allows fans to see stats, records scores and more while watching the action.

Making the Most of the Investment
Digital display technology is a long-term investment, but one that can certainly pay for itself over the years. “If you’re building a facility now and you’re not planning on putting in LED screens, you’re really putting yourself at a disadvantage,” Bailey says.

Adds Brown: “Marketing your technology aggressively to sponsors not only pays for the technology, but turns it into a serious moneymaking device. And of course, it's about ticket sales. Visual technology plays a major role in providing a memorable game day experience.”

In sporting venues, the value audiences receive from a constant barrage of stats, updates, video replays and other information is obvious. But beyond that, digital displays play an important role in entertaining and energizing audiences and creating that feeling of team spirit and excitement that you just can’t get watching a game at home. “The pre-game, fire-up-the-crowd features are fun for the fans and intimidating for opposing teams. This is a way to enhance the home field advantage,” Foster adds.

Providing interactive content further enhances the audience experience. Such activities include everything from crowd shots to dot races and other contests to an interactive jukebox where fans choose the songs.

Entertainment venues are increasingly using LED technology to create easily changeable, realistic backdrops for everything from concerts to stand-up comedy to live theatre. One of the best examples is Celine Dion’s Las Vegas show, for which Diamond Vision supplied a 34’ x 104’ HD display for the backdrop, complete with a door that opens in the center of the screen. When Dion walks through, the audience can’t even detect an opening in the image.

Conference centers can use digital displays to improve the traffic flow and ease of access for attendees by providing clear directions, schedules and other information during an event, and can also provide video exposure opportunities for event sponsors.

All types of venues can benefit from outdoor digital signage to improve overall visibility and enhance brand identity and name recognition. And for all facilities, one of the most important aspects of digital displays is the additional revenue they can bring in from advertising and sponsorships.

A large LED display can enhance  a live performance by providing dynamic, life-like backdrops that can be changed rapidly, easily and cost-effectively. Photo courtesy of Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams.

The latest-generation displays can allow for several advertisements or sponsorships to appear at once. When multiple digital displays are used, a facility can offer even greater value to advertisers by offering them an “exclusive moment” in which a particular brand or message appears everywhere at once for maximum attention and visibility. “The more integrated the display becomes [with the event], the greater value it has to sponsors,” Foster says.

The ease and low cost of changing the displays is also of great value for most facilities. For sports facilities that have multiple teams, it’s much less labor intensive than the old way of changing out physical, static signs between games. Conference centers can change their content daily or weekly or as often as needed to keep pace with changing events. Entertainment venues can improve the speed and seamlessness of transitioning stage sets that are incredibly realistic.

“Concerts now bring in these massive, transportable LED video screens — some on the magnitude of 100 plus feet by 50 feet tall,” Mascatello says. “What used to be a gray or painted banner backdrop with some incandescent lighting has now become a full video backdrop.”

And for all, the versatility of digital display makes it more cost-effective to cater to the needs of multiple advertisers. “Don’t make the mistake in thinking the displays are a commodity item,” Foster says. “Get involved personally in the selection, and look at the purchase as an investment in your facility and the relationship with your patrons. Seek solutions that give the most forward flexibility and remember that you will own this for 10 to 15 years. A small additional investment can pay for itself many times over in reliability, performance, and flexibility.”

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