D’Backs Plan To Have $3.3M LED Board Ready By April 11

The D’Backs hope to have a new $3.3M LED display board and an “upgraded sound system installed at Chase Field in time for” their home opener on April 11, according to Nick Piecoro of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The display board will run from the right-field foul pole to the end of the overhang by Friday’s Front Row in left field. D’Backs President Rich Dozer said that it will be the “largest LED board in [MLB] and will be of as high a quality as any in the game.” Piecoro reported the cost is being paid for “mostly by a ‘renewal and refurbishment’ account to which both Maricopa County and the Diamondbacks have contributed.” The account was created when the ballpark was built. Because Glendale Arena and US Airways Center both have LED boards and the new Cardinals Stadium will have one, Dozer said the team and the county were “trying to make sure we stay in the same breath as those other facilities.” D’Backs Senior VP/Marketing & Communications Derrick Hall said that the team “hopes the upgrades will help not only in selling ads, but also in enhancing the game-day experience.” Piecoro wrote the team is also adding two “high-end, field-level suites” — one at the end of each dugout. The eight- to ten-person suites will cost $350,000-400,000 to build, and the team will charge about $250,000 per suite per season (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/25).