Daktronics, SDSU Partner to Create Content for Jackrabbit Events

Daktronics continues to partner with South Dakota State University (SDSU) for creative digital elements used at Jackrabbit sporting events, including football and basketball games in 2015. Accompanying the new stadium, Daktronics Creative Services provided content and animations for the new LED display at the south end of Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

“We are very fortunate to have Daktronics Creative Services as part of our game-day team,” says SDSU Deputy Athletics Director Leon Costello. “They provide expertise for the video board production and cutting-edge videos and graphics that enhance the game-day atmosphere in our facilities.”

Working hand-in-hand, Daktronics and SDSU began conversations early in the summer to prepare for the upcoming football season and to consult on how best to use the new display space available to the university. Nailing down a layout that maximized the space for live video, statistics and sponsor messages was a priority.

“SDSU’s staff trusted us to provide something amazing for their university and their fans, and we delivered,” says Eric Ray, Daktronics event producer on site at SDSU. “At the first game, people were blown away, not just by the initial shock of the size of the display and stadium upgrades, but also by the look and feel of the additional content they were able to see during the games.”

Providing new game-day elements for SDSU allowed the school to have a major impact on fans beyond the sheer display size to the finishing touches such as lower thirds, player headshots with bios and stats being shown on each side of the live video window, and sponsored in-game features.

“As an SDSU alumnus, it was exciting to get to work on this project for my alma mater,” says Ellen Sandager, Daktronics Creative Services account manager. “It’s been awesome to see how much the stadium and campus have changed over the past few years, and it’s a unique experience to be a part of that change as our company helps entertain fans attending football games in the new stadium.”

“We started from scratch to create initial concepts for in-game layouts that incorporated everything that was needed from a marketing standpoint and how to handle other elements such as Twitter feeds, upcoming event announcements and ticket promotions,” adds Ray. “Getting that overall look nailed down was crucial.”

Using the overall look as a guide, additional content was produced including crowd prompts, headshots, countdown video, sponsorship messages and a unique Bummobile piece specific to SDSU’s homecoming, Hobo Day. In this unique piece, the mascot, Jack, drives the Bummobile across the stadium name located above the video and stat windows of the main in-game display layout which adds the homecoming-specific touch without disrupting the standard layout.

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