Illinois's Official Release On Stadium Improvements

Here is the entire release from the school:

BROOKINGS, S.D. - When the college football season kicks off in 2013, Fighting Illini fans will have something new to cheer about as Daktronics has been asked to design, manufacture and install new video display and sound systems at University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium. This includes a full design-build aspect for the entire South end zone structure from the Memorial Stadium lettering to the columns framing the main video display.

"We are excited to be working with Daktronics to enhance the video display and sound system at Memorial Stadium," UI Director of Athletics Mike Thomas said. "The new boards will bring HD quality video to our fans and will greatly enhance the game-day atmosphere. In addition, our video displays and added ribbon boards will now be visible by almost every seat in the stadium and will allow us to provide more statistics, out-of-town scores and event information to everyone in attendance."

The end zone is set to receive a new HD video display measuring 36 feet tall by 96 feet wide. It is capable of showing one large image to highlight live video and instant replays. It can also be divided into separate windows to show a variety of vivid graphics, colorful animations, up-to-the-minute statistics, scoring information and sponsor advertisements with outstanding brightness and wide-angle visibility.

Directly below the main video display, a new custom football scoreboard will be installed to show the score, time outs left, down and distance, game time remaining, and quarter information. An identical scoreboard (without video display) will be installed above the north end zone seats.

A new supplemental ribbon display will be installed below the custom football scoreboard that will measure over 50 feet wide. This display will provide the opportunity to showcase sponsors throughout events, show up-to-the-minute statistics and inform fans of other game information.

"It's great to be working with Illinois on their video and scoreboard needs," said Tony Mulder, Daktronics Sales Representative. "The university really wanted to keep the existing concrete structure in place, so we custom designed the entire end zone display configuration to fit with their needs. I think the brainstorming and design sessions led to an excellent solution that the university will really be proud of and enjoy for many years."

Aside from the end zone display configuration, two LED ribbon displays will be installed on the fascia between the seating decks, one on each side of the field. These displays will each measure more 420 feet in length.

Due to the uniqueness of Memorial Stadium, two additional displays will be installed - one in the Southeast corner and one in Southwest corner. Each auxiliary video display will measure approximately 10 feet tall by nearly 17 feet wide. These displays will be wall-mounted to the building elements of the stadium that obstruct the viewing of the main video display. They will display the same type of video and information as the main video display to ensure that every seat in the house receives the same game-day experience.

A custom Daktronics Sportsound® audio system will be integrated with the video and scoring system within the stadium. This system will provide full-range sound reproduction and deliver clear and intelligible speech ensuring a powerful audio experience for the fans. Daktronics audio offers high quality audio systems that can integrate with dynamic displays in indoor and outdoor sport venues.

Daktronics LED video and messaging display technology offers a long lifetime with minimal maintenance and low power consumption, providing value and excitement for years to come.

The current display was installed in Memorial Stadium prior to the 2002 season. The display is 22 feet tall by 39 feet wide. Disassembly of the display started on Jan. 28. The new display is scheduled to be operational by early summer 2013.

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