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Bristol Motor Speedway To Add World's Largest Center-Hung Scoreboard

Bristol Motor Speedway "will soon have the world’s largest outdoor, permanent, center-hung" scoreboard, featuring "four high-resolution screens measuring approximately 30 feet tall by 63 feet wide," according to Allen Gregory of the BRISTOL HERALD COURIER. Construction on the scoreboard, dubbed "Colossus," is scheduled to begin in November. The scoreboard "will rise via four massive support towers ranging in height from 190-220 feet and weighing in at approximately 437 tons." The display "will hang from a halo-shaped truss and features an additional circular LED display beneath the screens which measures nearly six feet in height." Between the screens and the LED ring, there "will be more than 8,500 square feet of high-resolution, active viewing area." Thanks to the "help of partners such as Panasonic, Colossus also boasts a state-of-the-art, 540,000-watt audio system powering 380 three-way loudspeakers and 48 stadium subwoofers." The video system "will host nearly 54 million LEDs and 18 million pixels." BMS GM Jerry Caldwell said that no cost estimate "will be available until core drilling starts." But he added, "It’s a lot." Caldwell assured that sightlines "will not be impacted" for next year's Battle at Bristol, the Virginia Tech-Tennessee football game that is "expected to smash the all-time college football attendance record with a sellout crowd in the 150,000 range." SMI CEO Marcus Smith, whose company owns the track, added, "I wouldn’t be surprised if you hear about bigger events coming to play or to perform at Bristol Motor Speedway, because they are not going to find another facility this big and this amazing anywhere else in the world" (BRISTOL HERALD COURIER, 10/8). Caldwell said of Colossus, “It will be a first and it’s going to take the fan experience at Bristol Motor Speedway to a whole new level. You can put a TV in, or you can put Colossus in, and Colossus is going to do that for Bristol Motor Speedway. This will be the ultimate man cave, if you will” (“NASCAR America,” NBCSN, 10/7).

THE THUNDER ROLLS: In Tennessee, Jeff Birchfield writes with the new scoreboard, the possibilities "seem to be limitless for future events at the speedway." It is a "good possibility that more college or even professional football games could be scheduled in future years." The display "is like those at NBA arenas and with its size, it makes it possible for basketball games, hockey or almost any sporting" to be held at the speedway. The stadium "could also become a mecca for major concerts" (JOHNSON CITY PRESS, 10/8). Caldwell said, "The sky is the limit. I think this opens you up to some music events and different forms of motorsports." The HERALD COURIER's Gregory notes BMS "is already the home to a popular monster truck show spectacle," plus the track hosted a Red Bull Global Rallycross event in '13. Caldwell: "Some things could have been possible before, and now it will be more cost-effective and easier to accomplish with the design of Colossus" (BRISTOL HERALD COURIER, 10/8),

PREPARED FOR BATTLE: USA TODAY's Mike Hembree noted the Battle at Bristol "is expected to attract a crowd of at least 150,000, easily giving the facility -- nicknamed the Last Great Colosseum -- the record for attendance at a college game." Plans "call for thousands of temporary seats to be added on the concrete racing surface." Seating capacity for races at the track is about 160,000. Caldwell said the track needs “about a 14-day window” to make the transformation. He added, "Once the checkered flag falls on the August night race, it will be a 24-7 project. It will be choreographed down to the minute. We feel good about our timetable." Both VT and UT have "been allotted 40,000 tickets." The speedway "sold several thousand (the number was not released) last week, and thousands of others will be sold by the track in an online lottery." Track officials "expect a sellout" (USATODAY.com, 10/7).

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