Univ. Of Louisville's Freedom Hall To Get Upgraded Scoreboards

CBS Collegiate Sports Properties To Help Freedom Hall Upgrade Its Video-Display System

The Kentucky State Fair Board (KSFB) Thursday approved a deal with Charlotte-based CBS Collegiate Sports Properties to upgrade the video-display equipment in the Univ. of Louisville's (UL) Freedom Hall, including the "large overhead basketball scoreboard," according to Sheldon Shafer of the Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL. All of the informational boards will get "digitalized displays, including full color and animated capability, in time for the start" of UL's '08-09 basketball season in November. Collegiate will "install upgraded technology costing an estimated $1.17[M] inside Freedom Hall and $1.66[M] outside, chiefly for the marquee billboard near the horse barns on the east side of the fairgrounds." Inside Freedom Hall, "all of the video surfaces will be upgraded from lightbulbs to digital displays." KSFB President Harold Workman said that under a 12-year ad-sharing revenue deal, the fair board "gets 40[%] of the gross, or a guaranteed minimum of $135,000 a year, after Collegiate's annual debt service is subtracted." Workman noted that the "advertising gross has been averaging just more than $500,000 a year" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 7/27).