Football programs around the country are installing new high definition-scoreboards in their stadiums – Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State just to name a few.
LSU may soon join that list.
The LSU Athletic Department wants to install a new HD scoreboard in Tiger Stadium as soon as the 2009 season, said Mark Ewing, senior associate athletic director.
“I’m pretty definite you’ll see something by that time,” Ewing said. “We may have to do something like Alabama – do one [scoreboard] one year and another [scoreboard] another year.”
Ewing said a new screen “definitely” won’t arrive in time for the 2008 season.
“We’re doing one for baseball and softball, and we’re looking at trying to upgrade the PMAC’s scoreboard,” Ewing said. “Those would all happen before the stadium.”
The Athletic Department would purchase the new screen through the Tiger Athletic Foundation.
“The Tiger Athletic Foundation owns a lot of our scoreboards now,” Ewing said.
Associate Athletic Director Eddie Nunez said the size and cost of the new scoreboard will not be determined until all designs are finalized.
“That’s up in the air because we don’t know what it’s going to entail,” Nunez said. “That all depends on how big the screen is, if it’s reconfigured, if it’s going to have a different look to it … There’s still a little bit of time to formulate this.”
The current scoreboard in Tiger Stadium was installed before the 1999 season.
“I don’t how long they’re going be able to support the technology we have in there now,” Ewing said. “Whatever we get is going to be a lot better than what we have right now because the technology is so old, and the new technology is so much better.”
Nunez said replacement parts for the current scoreboards are limited.
The football program won’t be the only one on campus to receive a new scoreboard – the new baseball and softball stadiums, as well as the PMAC, will receive new HD screens for their upcoming seasons.
“They are brand new boards from top to bottom,” Nunez said. “They will have … HD boards that will give our fans the best quality provided for those two venues. In the PMAC, we are replacing the current four screens that are in there … it’s going to fit in the exact same footprint that we currently have.”
Nunez said estimated costs have only been planned for the new PMAC video screens.
“We haven’t finished the detail on baseball and softball,” Nunez said. “We’re still working on the layout since those are two brand new boards … for basketball we’re looking at about, to replace all four boards, in the range of about $500,000 to $600,000.”
—-Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]