Daktronics Kicks Off Football Season With 142,250 Sq. Ft. of Displays; Ups Tampa Bay Bucs’ Game-Day Presentation

Seven professional and 18 college football teams are preparing for the 2016 season with new LED video display equipment from Daktronics. A total of 85 displays combine for 142,250 square feet of digital canvas to create an enhanced game-day experience for fans in and around football stadiums throughout the country.

U.S. Bank Stadium and Raymond James Stadium are rolling out new integrated super systems at the professional football level while other sites including Levi’s Stadium and EverBank Field have added auxiliary signage to their facilities to offer additional content during games.

“This is an exciting time of year when the fall sports seasons begin and many of our customers are unveiling their new technology to improve the fan experience at their venues,” says Will Ellerbruch, Daktronics national sales manager for live events. “We’re honored to be the company that numerous professional and collegiate venues turn to for their LED video display needs, and we’re looking forward to seeing these new installations impacting fans when the regular seasons kick off this fall.”

When the college football regular season kick off this week, 42 new displays at 18 different schools will be providing live video, instant replays, game intros and crowd prompts, and statistics to excite the thousands of fans that flock to the stadiums to cheer on their teams.

These college installations include the second largest video display in college-specific football stadium for the University of Oklahoma and the unique application of digital audio façades over the speaker system at Rice University.

Other college football customers in 2016 include:

• Boston University
• California Lutheran University
• Campbell University
• Elon University
• FARGODOME
• Kansas State University
• McDaniel College
• Sacred Heart University
• San Bernardino Valley College
• U.S. Air Force Academy
• U.S. Naval Academy
• University of Central Florida
• University of Mississippi
• University of South Dakota
• Vanderbilt University
• Villanova University

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Up Game-Day Presentation with Daktronics Creative Services
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers doubled down on their investment in the fan experience at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, by partnering with Daktronics Creative Services for consultation and custom digital content production to bring their new LED video display system to life in 2016. The Buccaneers and Daktronics collaborated on a fan engagement strategy and content creation for all displays within the stadium. In total, more than 100 unique pieces of content will be produced and delivered prior to the first home preseason game on August 26.

“We’ve had a very long-standing and successful relationship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pre-dating the video display installation in 1999,” says Fred Doremus, Daktronics Creative Services account manager. “We’ve remained a central support resource for their game-day production throughout the years and it’s exciting to continue to provide the team with the things they need to make their events successful. We’re honored to be entrusted with this responsibility.”

The Daktronics creative team will produce everything from logo treatments and sponsor messages to touchdown animations and other crowd-centric elements, but the exciting part is how they can be shown. While some animations will be tailored to fit one specific display size, other pieces will be shown as one continuous visual across multiple displays within the stadium.

“These state-of-the-art video boards will provide our fans with a completely immersive experience that will bring the action on the field closer to our fans than ever before,” says Brian Ford, Buccaneers chief operating officer. “The superior capabilities of these video displays, combined with the expertise of DaktronicsCreative Services, will be a game changer for our fans by allowing us to break new ground in our game presentation at Raymond James Stadium.”

“Combining displays to form a larger canvas is one thing most fans don’t expect to see and delivers a ‘wow’ factor that adds excitement to the game being played on the field,” says Bob Lee, Daktronics creative director on the project. “We’ve worked closely with the Buccaneers to deliver a cohesive content package that is sure to excite their fans and provide one of the best home-field environments in the league.”