Daktronics Upgrades Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
BROOKINGS, S.D. – Coming off their second national championship in three seasons, University of Florida football fans will watch the Gators begin their title defense in 2009 with two of the largest video screens in college football. The new displays, designed, manufactured and installed this summer by Daktronics Inc. (Nasdaq-DAKT) of Brookings S.D., are part of an integrated system that will provide a clear view for fans in any seat at “The Swamp”.
“The HD-X displays will provide a dramatic improvement to the fans’ game day experience in the Swamp. The resolution, coupled with the boards’ size, will make a tremendous impact on our stadium,” said Mike Hill, Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs. “Daktronics produces an outstanding product and we are excited about the project.”
Fans will watch the Gators chomp up the competition on state-of-the-art video displays featuring Daktronics industry leading HD-X LED (light emitting diode) video technology. Located in both end zones of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Daktronics will retrofit to the existing structures. The larger south end zone video display will measure approximately 136 feet wide by 30 feet high with another display measuring approximately 71 feet wide by 24 feet high soaring over the north end zone. The video boards can operate as single giant displays or be divided into multiple zones (windows) to show a wide variety of statistics, information, graphics, animations and live and recorded video.
Daktronics will also provide digital ribbon display technology to the fascia. These displays provide fans with in-game information, out-of-town scores, promotional messages and crowd prompts that create an interactive experience. Florida sponsors will also have creative opportunities to get their messages across through motion graphics and other eye-catching content.
Daktronics first installed its video technology at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in 1998 as has worked with the University of Florida over the past decade installing systems in the O’Connell Center as well as the baseball, softball, soccer and track and field facilities.
“All of us at Daktronics are excited to extend our long standing relationship with the University of Florida athletics,” said Kyle Adams, Daktronics Regional Sales Manager. “The new video boards will provide that ‘wow’ factor all Gator fans will enjoy. After another National Championship in 2008, this upgrade will certainly add to the excitement for 2009.”
The University of Florida is one of a number of Southeastern Conference universities that have chosen Daktronics for integrated football systems including Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Louisiana State, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
About Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Commonly known as “The Swamp”, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is the largest football stadium in the state of Florida. With its intimidating environment, the Swamp is widely considered as one of the toughest places in the country for opposing teams to play. With averaging attendances of over 90,000 the last four years, every Gator home game has been sold out since 1979.
About Daktronics
Daktronics is recognized as the world’s leading provider of full-color LED video displays. Daktronics began manufacturing large screen, full-color, LED video displays in 1997. Since then, over 5,500 large screen video displays have been sold and installed in sporting and commercial facilities around the world. Since 2001, independent market research conducted by iSuppli Corp. lists Daktronics as the world’s leading provider of large screen LED video displays.
Daktronics has strong leadership positions in, and is the world’s largest supplier of, large screen video displays, electronic scoreboards, computer-programmable displays, digital billboards, and control systems. The company excels in the control of large display systems, including those that require integration of multiple complex displays showing real-time information, graphics, animation and video. Daktronics designs, manufactures, markets and services display systems for customers around the world, in sport, business and transportation applications. For more information, visit the company’s World Wide Web site at: http://www.daktronics.com, e-mail the company at [email protected], call (605) 697-4300 or toll-free (800) 325-8766 in the United States or write to the company at 331 32nd Ave. PO Box 5128 Brookings, S.D. 57006-5128.
