ANC Sports Lights Up X Games With Event-Side Signage

For seven years, ANC Sports Enterprises has provided rotational signage for the X Games, but, at this year’s X Games 16, the company quadrupled its offerings. For the action-sports festival in Los Angeles last week, ANC Sports provided 45 rotational signage machines and 162 ft. of event-side LED signage, marking the first time that the X Games has featured LED systems.

“It was a first for us, incorporating the LED into the X Games, but we have used the system for other events,” says Greg Terlizzi, manager of sales services for ANC Sports. “The only challenge was, this was the first time we’ve built it into an extreme event, placing it on top of a vert ramp. Nothing really threw us any curve balls because we went in with a plan in place.”

That plan involved equipping two separate venues with the digital signage systems. ANC split the 162 total ft. of LED used at the X Games between the Staples Center and the vert ramp at the Nokia Theater.

“At the top of the vert ramp, we put 45 ft. on one side, 36 ft. on another, and, on the side of the vert ramp, we had 27 ft.,” Terlizzi explains, adding, “We also created the LED graphic content for them. They utilized animations for rider introductions and static and animated sponsor-related graphics. We also provided titled-event animations.”

Driving all of those graphics was ANC’s proprietary VisionSOFT operating system, which allows the LED signage to display dynamic animations, still sponsor graphics, and even real-time information. Six members of the ANC operations staff was on-site in Los Angeles to set up and break down the equipment, as well as operate the VisionSOFT system.

“We did have operations staff on-site managing the whole installation, as well as running the event itself,” Terlizzi says. “They were working side by side with the X Games on placement of the signage and when the signage should run.”

ANC Sports’ LED signage has also been used by the United Football League and Major League Soccer for event-side signage, and Terlizzi expects to see more of ANC’s LED boards at sporting events in the near future.

“There are plenty of events that we’re targeting that have a lot of camera-visible signage where this sideline LED technology can be used,” he says. “We are in the process of looking at more of those.”