Swamp Things: Florida Installing New Scoreboards At Stadium

Two New Scoreboards To Be Installed At Univ. Of Florida Football Stadium

The Univ. of Florida (UF) is replacing the current video boards at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field with "with high-tech JumboTrons," according to Pat Dooley of the GAINESVILLE SUN. Construction on the boards is "expected to begin in April before the April 18 spring game." UF is "still negotiating the deal, but the money for the giant boards will come mostly from the rights deal" the school signed with Fox-owned RSN Sun Sports in '08. The current video boards are 11 years old. The University Athletic Association, UF's marketing arm, "also will spend about $35,000 to update the Gateway of Champions" at the stadium (GAINESVILLE SUN, 1/22). In Orlando, Jeremy Fowler noted the south end zone scoreboard, a 137-by-30-foot space, "will be covered by an LED video screen in time for" the '09 football season, and UF will be able to "advertise and show statistics on the new board." The 94-by-30-foot north scoreboard "will have the same technology." The cost of the boards is unknown, but UF Associate AD for External Affairs Mike Hill said that the project "should cost less than" the $6.1M it cost Mississippi State Univ. to install a 111-by-47-foot screen last year (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/21).