Venue News: Toyota Center Promises Major Technology Upgrades; Heinz Field To Add Second Video Boad

Compiled by Karen Hogan, Associate Editor, Sports Video Group

Toyota Center will redefine the in-arena fan viewing experience when it unveils a state-of-the-art video scoreboard.  The new video board, installed by Panasonic, will be the largest indoor center-hung scoreboard in the United States, offering patrons an unprecedented view of the action at Houston Rockets home games and Toyota Center events such as the upcoming 2013 NBA All-Star Game.  The new board is the centerpiece of a sweeping arena-wide improvement project that also includes the installation of new HD flat panel screens throughout the concourses, upgraded WiFi connectivity options, new concessions point-of-sale systems, and other upgrades for Toyota Center patrons. The scoreboard will contain four large screens—two rectangular-shaped displays that will face the east and west seating areas and a pair of square-shaped screens that will face the north and south ends of the bowl. All the boards will display a full HD signal with 1080 lines of resolution…

…The Pittsburgh Steelers want to equip Heinz Field with a second video scoreboard as part of a proposed expansion that would add about 3,000 seats. The additional seats would be at the foot of the stadium’s main scoreboard in the south end. The second scoreboard would be built at the stadium’s north end to allow fans in the new seats to see video presentations during games. A new scoreboard has long been part of the team’s expansion plan for Heinz Field, which opened in 2001, said Mark Hart, the team’s director of planning and development. The expansion is expected to cost between $30 million and $35 million. The team aims to complete the expansion by August, in time for the 2013-14 football season. The stadium has 65,050 seats. The team has been discussing the possibility of a major expansion for two years…

…Replacing the 1962 basketball home Sartain Hall, Troy University’s new Trojan Arena will be home to men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, and track and field programs and will host the commencement ceremonies and special events of the university. Trojan Arena was co-designed by Goodwyn, Mills, Cawood architects and Populous Architects. Spanning more than 140,000 square feet, the new Trojan Arena features two practice courts, weight rooms, locker rooms and offices, in addition to the main floor. The Trojan Arena also features 63 televisions, 767-sq. ft. video boards, and a three-foot-high ribbon screen that encircles the arena…

…London’s Olympic Stadium looks set to become home to Premier League football club West Ham United, ensuring the venue retains a prominent role in British sport once the memories of a golden Games begin to fade. Newly restored to the English Premier League, West Ham are the best known of four bidders competing to move into a stadium built for the Games, and appear to have the strongest business credentials. A deal for the club to take over the stadium following the Games collapsed after a legal challenge last year. Under the new plan, the freehold of the stadium would remain in public ownership and the new tenant would take a long-term lease. Bidders also include third tier English football club Leyton Orient, who are open to sharing with West Ham. The others are a group who want to stage a Formula One motor racing grand prix and a college offering degrees in football business…

…The City of San Francisco, the San Francisco Giants, ChargePoint, and ABM, a leading provider of integrated facility solutions, unveiled four new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at AT&T Park. The stadium is the first ballpark in California to offer public access to Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations, a next-generation technology that can charge an EV in four hours, or about the length of a baseball game. ABM installed and will maintain the charging stations, and is offering the public free EV charging at the AT&T Park stations throughout the week of September 17-21. The charging stations mark another sustainability milestone for AT&T Park, which in 2010 became the first Major League Baseball park to receive LEED Silver Certification for Existing Buildings, Operations and Maintenance.

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