Fans attending Mariners' games at the new Safeco Field
next season will "be surrounded by information" due to a
"huge new-technology" video scoreboard in centerfield and an
"even larger" matrix scoreboard next to it, according to Bob
Sherwin of the SEATTLE TIMES. Ten other electronic boards
throughout the stadium will show fans video highlights,
graphic presentations of player information, out-of-town
scores and highlights and pitch selection and speed.
Daktronics Inc., which will install the $7.7M system, has
scoreboards at 13 other MLB parks, but none with this type
of "integrated video and information system." The 26-by-46-
foot video screen above centerfield will be 32% larger than
the Kingdome's and will "be powered by 80,000 watts through
light-emitting diodes" and include shades of blue and green
that will "allow the video to show more than 1.7 million
shades of color." Daktronics CEO Al Kurtenbach: "[It will
be] better than your typical TV set and formatted to accept
the high-resolution TV when that technology is perfected in
two or three years." The entire scoreboard will be 56' high
and 190' wide, with most of it being "covered with
advertising" (Bob Sherwin, SEATTLE TIMES, 9/16).
