Designing the best electronic scoreboard ads

There’s no denying that we are surrounded by advertising and marketing via more venues than ever before. In the old days, we were limited to television, radio and billboard. The technology stream has opened up the worlds of the internet websites, social media and now even our smartphones. With the entire marketing buzz, it is often a conundrum when you are trying to design creative and imaginative advertising for your electronic scoreboards.

The general public is fairly savvy when judging the difference between a good ad and a bad one. One example of the demand for good ads is the incredible popularity of Super Bowl ads. There are people that may not be football fans, but they will go online just to view that year’s ingenuity in advertising.
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Electronic Scoreboard: Major item on every team’s wish list

Each new school year the Director of the Sports Department has a meeting to review the needs of the various teams. Everything is examined: from uniforms to the condition of the field or stadium. As each sports team regroups for the season, they will also add their input for what they feel is needed for the success of the year. On the top of the list is the electronic scoreboard.

It is now common place to attend any game and see a scoreboard. Every team, whether indoor, outdoor, home or away is very aware of the affect a scoreboard can have on the game. In today’s competitive arena, a sports team has to market themselves in the same branding of excellence as any other product. There are too many high quality media sources to offer alternatives to attendance and support, and the team needs a good electronic scoreboard to bring the fans in.
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Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field: Once the 2nd oldest stadium in the country

The owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Barney Dreyfuss, had a dream in 1903 to create the most beautiful stadium in the country. He wanted to move the Pirates from the Exposition Park location to a seven acre area in Pittsburgh. The design he selected would blend with the other buildings in the district of Schenley Park. At the time, that location was a bit of a trolley ride (10 minutes) from downtown and the project became known as “Dreyfuss’ Folley”. The name didn’t last long mainly due to his design concept: a 3-tiered stadium of concrete and steel, setting precedence for a stadium design as the first one in the country.
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Electronic Scoreboards: A YouTube hit and viral

It is hard to believe that in the last five years, there has been so much of a technology jump. As a world society, we have made a leap from the net as an information source, to an entertainment resource. The universe of electronic scoreboards has been one of the top changes, morphing from a method to view a team’s score to hit videos on such sites as YouTube.

Sports fans have always pushed technology to move forward. Some of the first computer graphic commercials were designed for the Super Bowl. When the fans got a taste of those, they simply wanted more. With the advent of the net as a social media forum and the commonality of smartphones, the evolution of electronic scoreboards has kept up with the demand. The scoreboards are at a level of technology that they will often contain streaming video, sponsorship announcements and replays. These are both sent to a direct feed to the net as well as personally filmed on video with our cameras.
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The AstroDome: One of America’s Favorite Architectures

Any sports fan that ever heard the word “Astrodome” – knew exactly what and where it was. Commonly known as the Houston Astrodome, this was notably the first stadium build for multi-sports purpose. The grand opening in 1965, displayed the domed façade and it quickly became known as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. Judy Garland as well as the famed super group “The Supremes” were the highlight of performance in the opening night.

The design was based on a rain-out game attended by the former mayor of Houston. Inspired by the ancient Roman concept to offer a velaria to protect the viewers, he changed his project direction and began working on getting a domed stadium in place.
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The Changing Face of Electronic Scoreboards: From Manual to High-Tech

The changing face of electronic scoreboards: From manual to high tech There is an entire generation that has grown up not knowing what life was like without the internet, phone apps and high tech electronics. As a society, we have sped with lightning evolution into an age where everything can be viewed, communicated and shared, in an instant. In the U.S., the supply and demand channel for high tech has been backed by the hungry fans of our sports teams. We have progressed from a nation attending a hometown game with the old fashioned manual scoreboard to an expectation level of streaming, moment-by-moment updates on electronic scoreboards.
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War Memorial Stadium: Ol’ Rockpile of Buffalo

Buffalo New York has had a tenuous reputation, but there is something about the people that live there, that gives the residents resilience like no other. They suffer horrendous winters and lovely light summers; a hard working class of people that are some of the most loyal fans; even when their beloved Buffalo Bills aren’t winning. They don’t seem to care, because they stand firmly behind their team.

As early as 1937, a stadium was built for a max capacity of around 33,000 fans. The original name was Roesch Memorial Stadium, later changed to Grover Cleveland Stadium (in honor of the renowned President and former Buffalo resident) and then Civic Stadium. In 1960 the name was finalized as War Memorial Stadium. One of the smallest venues for football, the people of the area supported the many renovations to give it a final capacity of 46,500.
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Portable electronic scoreboards: Taking the scores to your fans

Hometown teams that don’t have a good field know all too well the uphill battle of getting and maintaining their fan following. The success of any team relies completely on the fans and the sponsors. Every team needs to know they are supported and the easiest way to get those fans is to have a portable electronic scoreboard at every game.

The old portable scoreboards were bulky, unpredictable and difficult to set up at an away game. The improvement in technology has offered a team the chance to have a higher tech portable scoreboard with some of the bells and whistles that you might only find at the stadiums. Gone are the days of the massive electric requirements. The wireless age now offers excellence of quality without so many plugs. Audio special effects can now be found on the portable scoreboards as MP3 plug ins can create a music sensation that spurs both fans and team members alike. Bright, sharp LED displays have the option of color change, so that you can match the team colors and entice more team spirit at the game.
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Cleveland Stadium: Home of the Dawg Pound

The original idea of Cleveland Stadium was a combined effort of Cleveland City government officials, real estate investors and Cleveland Indian team officials. The purpose was to give the team a professional and sharp venue to play while increasing revenue for the Cleveland Ohio downtown area. The additional hopes in 1930 were that it would attract the Summer Olympics games. This hope was dashed when Los Angeles received the coveted award for the games.

When construction started on Cleveland Stadium, the media cruelly dubbed the venue “The Mistake by the Lake”. When it was completed, the stadium hosted the Cleveland Indians as well as the National Boxing Associated World Heavyweight Championship. Seating capacity for baseball and football varied, but with an average of around 80,000.
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Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium: The Launching Pad

The 1960’s was a time of progress in our country. Large cars, booming business and the introduction of rock and roll brought about many changes. Atlanta Georgia was a city that needed to move forward with the times. The decision in 1964 for the then, non-identified Major League Baseball organization to offer a verbal commitment to Atlanta created the grounds to build a stadium. In 1965 the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was opened, having taken only 50 weeks to construct.
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Miami Orange Bowl: A moment in history

In 1936 the City of Miami Public Works Department made a decision to build a stadium that would be a highlight to Miami. Construction was finished and in 1937 the football team, then named the Miami Hurricanes, played their first game. Since Roddy Burdine was a pioneer of the Miami area, the first name given to the stadium was Burdine Stadium. The stadium was renamed in 1959 to accommodate the college football game of the Orange Bowl.

The popularity of the stadium encouraged additional enhancements, so that in the 40’s and 50’s seating was added to create a max capacity of over 80,000. This led to the ability of a pro football team game and The Miami Dolphins played their first game at the Orange Bowl in 1966. The Orange Bowl became a centerpiece of history when the first televised prime time college game was played.
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Busch Stadium: From Old to New

Busch Stadium was one of the most attractive stadiums in baseball. Originally constructed as a multi purpose venue, it was the talk of St Louis. Featuring the famous ‘Crown of the Arches’ to compliment the St Louis ‘Gateway Arch’, the stadium became best known as the pride of The Cardinals. The original name that it was given was Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium, however in 1982 they decided to change the name to it’s now well known ‘Busch Stadium’. The venue was named after the famous family of the team’s ownership, the Anheuser-Busch, Busch Family.
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The Spectrum: Heart and Soul of Philadelphia

Anyone that lived in Philadelphia from the late 60’s until the 2,000’s, knew and loved ‘The Spectrum’. While it was called by many other names, including: The Wachovia Spectrum, CoreStates Spectrum, and First Union Spectrum, it was and always will be known as simply ‘The Spectrum’ by the locals.

Oddly named in 1967 when it opened, the letters are actually an acronym: ‘SP’ represents ‘sports’ and has also been referred to as ‘South Philadelphia. The ‘E’ for ‘entertainment,’ as it was planned to host a variety of venues. The ‘C’ for the many ‘circuses,’ that would be there. The ‘T’ for all of the ‘theatricals,’ plays, drama and movie backdrops. The ‘R’ for ‘recreation,’ which covered a lot of topics. And ‘UM’, well they decided that would stand for: ‘um, what a nice building!”.
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Tiger Stadium: the pride of Detroit

Many people may not know that the famous Tiger Stadium in Detroit started out in 1895 as just a simple ballpark. George Vanderbeck was the then owner of the Detroit Tigers, and built the stadium and called it Bennett Park. It had wooden grandstands and a peaked roof of wood in the outfield with the infield surrounded by bleachers. Ropes were used in some locations to mark off the outfield.

Many changes were made to ‘The Corner’, as it was lovingly coined. From 1911 to 1938 various owners changed, added and enhanced to encourage fans to attend. In 1961, John Fetzer decided to rename the location to Tiger Stadium. It seemed the name brought good luck because from 1968 and 1984, they held the seasons of the World Series championship. The historic feel of the stadium earned the love of the local Detroit fans; and that says a lot, because Detroit fans are some of the most devoted in the country. Roger Maris hit his very first homerun at the stadium.
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Veterans Stadium: home of the rowdiest fans

If you lived in Philadelphia during the 60’s and 70’s you had to be a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles. This isn’t a choice or an option, it’s a requirement. If you attended any of the games (and everyone did) then you would have found yourself at the Philadelphia Veterans Stadium, known as “The Vet” by the locals. The name was chosen to represent and honor all of the U.S. Veterans from all of the wars and was a proud moment when TheVet opened in 1971.
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