New Cowboys Stadium To Have NFL's First Center-Hung Scoreboard

New Cowboys Stadium To Feature First Center-Hung Scoreboard In NFL Stadium

The Cowboys are marketing the $25M center-hung scoreboard at their new $1.1B stadium as a "premium amenity for fans sitting in the upper deck, where they will sit at eye level with the massive screens," according to Don Muret of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The scoreboard, which will be the NFL's "first center-hung scorebard" when the stadium opens in '09, will "span 60 yards and contain what producer Mitsubishi Electric says is the world's largest LED [HD] 1080-pixel displays." Cowboys Exec VP & COO Stephen Jones said that the entire video package will cost "in the neighborhood of [$35-40M]" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/2 issue). In Dallas, Jeff Mosier reports the stadium is "on schedule for its projected June 2009 completion," though the "pace of work has varied greatly around the building." Most of the "heavy-duty construction work will be completed" by the fall, which means there will be "few new changes to the design." One of the "most visible alterations is the exterior video screen planned for each side of the stadium," as those screens "will probably be moved to the end zone plazas, where there's expected to be corporate tents and special events." The number of suites also "increased from 200 to 300, and the Cowboys decided to add two more private clubs to the six already planned for high rollers in the suites and club seats" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/2).

SOCCER STADIUM? In Ft. Worth, Tobias Xavier Lopez reported the "only thing standing between a return of World Cup soccer" to the U.S., and to Dallas-Ft. Worth in particular, is England. Cowboys officials from the start of planning for the new stadium have said that the field bowl "would be built to accommodate the necessary width of international soccer" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 5/31).