Notre Dame Stadium Makeover To Include Three Video Boards, Vinyl-Clad Bench Seats

Video boards "are decidedly coming to Notre Dame Stadium" in the fall of '17,  but the school pledged there will be "no advertising or commercials associated" with use" new additions, according to a front-page piece by Eric Hansen of the SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE. The largest of the three "will be located at the south end of the stadium, with two 'ribbon' boards -- one each on the east and west sides." None of them will "obscure the view of the Touchdown Jesus mural." The north scoreboard "will be removed" in '17 when the video boards go up, "actually enhancing the view of the campus landmark." Video boards were described as "only a possibility, not an inevitability," when the Campus Crossroads stadium expansion/renovation project and its $400M price tag were unfurled 20 months ago. There likely will be "blowback from traditionalists, who fought, threatened and whined through the less-seismic recent stadium innovations, including adding a FieldTurf artificial surface and amping up the facility’s sound system." Other upgrades include the "addition of vinyl-clad benches throughout the stadium, replacing the wood bench seats," as well as "improvements to the Wi-Fi network within the stadium." There also will be "enhancements to the existing sound system within the stadium bowl, renovation of restrooms with an "increase in the number of women’s restrooms." Renovations will be made to concession stands and to "both the lower and upper concourses, including improved lighting, seating areas, enhanced signage and video monitors." None of those have been "anywhere close to as historically divisive" as the video board issue. Currently, 105 of the 128 FBS schools play home games "in facilities with video boards, some of which belong to professional teams." All but seven of the 66 Power Five teams, including independents Notre Dame and BYU, "have JumboTrons or the equivalent" (SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE, 8/26).

TRADITION WAS ALREADY GONE: NBCSPORTS.com's Kevin McGuire wrote the "last bit of college football innocence at Notre Dame is now going away." It actually started with Notre Dame "beginning to use wildly specialized uniforms for the Shamrock Series, which in itself saw the Irish cross the line separating college football from its purity over to the watered down NFL experience" (NBCSPORTS.com, 8/25).