Video scoreboard

Western_101 · Fri Jul 15, 2016 7:53 am

Good find WIU0812,

Cool for Metamora,

WIUs "upgrades" in the scoreboard/videoboard area are looking great if it were a high school, very very underwhelming for any level of college program.

themanwithmanyhats · Mon Jul 18, 2016 3:33 pm

The total project cost for the video board project was north $500,000. You have to keep in mind that this video board is different (more expensive) than most boards in the fact that it is mobile and is not a permanent installation. You also need to keep in mind that there were essentially two installations of the board since it is moved between Hanson Field and Western Hall and structural work had to be completed in both areas to accommodate the board(s).

Tere North · Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:46 pm

themanwithmanyhats wrote:The total project cost for the video board project was north $500,000. You have to keep in mind that this video board is different (more expensive) than most boards in the fact that it is mobile and is not a permanent installation. You also need to keep in mind that there were essentially two installations of the board since it is moved between Hanson Field and Western Hall and structural work had to be completed in both areas to accommodate the board(s).

Given that cost and the inference that it cost more because it was a mobile board, what would it have cost to simply have fixed (non-mobile) boards for both FB and BB instead?

Mon Jul 18, 2016 6:52 pm

Tere North wrote:Given that cost and the inference that it cost more because it was a mobile board, what would it have cost to simply have fixed (non-mobile) boards for both FB and BB instead?

Not entirely sure, but here's some info on UNI's video board upgrades a couple of years ago. It was, I think, for a couple of boards, moving another board, as well as the structures to support them, for $1.3 million.

http://www.unipanthers.com/news/2014/5/ ... 93265.aspx

EDIT - here's some more info...in this case, NDSU's video board upgrades:
http://www.inforum.com/news/3933529-far ... deo-boards
The article reads kinda "funny", but essentially it's: four corner boards ($1.1 million), a video control room ($1.3 million) and two rear scoreboards ($3.5 million). The end zone scoreboards are each 100 ft x 30 ft (just barely smaller than SDSU's 100x31 board).

For reference, this is what those are going to look like:

WIU0812 · Mon Jul 18, 2016 8:34 pm

It just seems like fixed video boards would of made more sense. After viewing prices from other schools it seems like we could have gotten a fixed board for both the field and in gym of a similar size for same price. According to articles the ISU videoboard cost 1.2 million at 1220 SF that costs $983.61/ SF. Our board @ $500,000 and 256 SF costs $1,953.13/SF. I would like to say that ours may of been partly due to a frame or something, but we used our original frame and just repainted and tweaked it a bit. We did buy a new scoreboard, but I have to assume that could not of cost much more than like $25,000 as you see these same scoreboards all over high school fields and the sign above the video board was made by a WIU art professor.

Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:40 pm

My hope is that one day, when we have the money to redo the west side of the football stadium, we're able to set aside maybe $1M or so to put up a really nice video board. Then take the existing one and make it permanent in Western Hall, because it looks just fine as two screens in there.

I don't know if that's a reasonable possibility or not, but that's what I'd really like to see, personally.

sealhall74 · Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:45 pm

I have a very hard time coming to grips with spending millions of dollars on a big video board which gets used six or seven times a year and becomes essentially obsolete with respect to advances in technology in five (or maybe even fewer) years. For smaller programs, I like the idea of a mobile/portable setup that you can move around from venue to venue. So what if it is not huge? If you host the conference softball tournament, roll it into position and light up the LEDs.

Western_101 · Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:03 am

As far as the set up for football. I would have preferred a permanent video board 3 times as big with half as much picture resolution. Of course it will become outdated, so does everything. However, what is the point in having a video board that is so small that it does not really contribute anything to the game day experience.

If we are not keeping up with the rest of FCS football facility wise we will be at a disadvantage for recruiting. Also younger fans have expectations that are different from the older die hard Leatherneck fans.

I do think the mobile video boards look like a good size and good fit for Western Hall.

letsgonecks · Tue Jul 19, 2016 2:47 pm

I want one the size of the Dallas Cowboys, but would settle for this one and a conference championship!!!!!!

Seriously though, the board is underwhelming and so are other things in regards to our athletic facilities. These things can affect recruiting, but so do location and the surrounding area and those are obstacles we'll always face.

Best they can do is keep trying to raise money, raise community and alum involvement and win as much as possible. Winning brings in more winner and more money.

7 months ago was a pretty low point for my optimism, but is now higher than ever and I think the future is bright. Didn't lose any key players (transfers/Kaltmayer kind of), got a better Coach, more people donating, former players getting more involved, the state finally passed something of a budget, and football is just around the corner!!!!!!!!

themanwithmanyhats · Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:08 pm

I was in a hurry on my last post so I didn't get a chance to put in more details. That price also included the cost of the new scoreboard (which is 100x better than the P.O.S. that was there). The material cost of the scoreboard and video board together was right around $350,000. The rest covers the demo of the old scoreboard, new electrical, fabrication and installation of the catwalk on the back of the scoreboard, painting, landscaping, and the cost of the sign above it. All at prevailing wage rates. And while the sign was done by a WIU art professor, it was an extra contract with him that did add to the total cost. It was not "free" by any means.

Also, a screen 3x larger with half the resolution would look absolutely horrible. That would be like a standard definition TV image being stretched to the size of an IMAX theater. It would have to sit all the way back in Q-lot to look decent

Just think of it this way. It is better than it used to be.

...and if you don't like it, then do something to change it besides whining about it in an online forum. It isn't like this stuff is free and happens overnight!