GABP will have 12 LED displays with 16,750 square feet of digital space available starting next seasonGETTY IMAGES
The Reds are "replacing the video boards" around Great American Ball Park with MLB's first "fully high-dynamic-range system, giving the video boards eye-popping clarity," according to Steve Watkins of the CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER. All of the ballpark’s LED displays on scoreboards and other video boards will be in the "high-resolution HDR format that provides better image quality to video and digital content." Daktronics said that Great American Ball Park "will have 12 LED displays with 16,750 square feet of digital space throughout the ballpark" starting next season. Daktronics has "made scoreboards and video boards for the Reds since Great American Ball Park opened" in '03. The new video boards include the "main scoreboard in left field that will be 40 feet high by 215 feet wide," making it the seventh-largest video board in MLB. That board will be "significantly larger than the previous board and cover previous static ads." That gives the Reds "more flexibility and richer video quality to sell to advertisers." The right-field video board "will be 31 feet by 90 feet." That also will give the Reds "more digital inventory than they had with the previous right-field scoreboard." Additional HDR boards "will include a 152-foot-long board that is seven and a half feet high in left field." A ribbon board "extending more than 1,000 feet will circle the ballpark" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/11).
FAMILY FRIENDLY: The BUSINESS COURIER's Watkins noted the Reds unveiled changes at last weekend’s annual Redfest fan festival that include a "specialized suite area, a family zone and a previously announced new premium seating area." The Reds are "opening a space on the Suite Level next season for business meetings in a boardroom-type setting." The Executive Super Suite can be "converted into a space where companies can entertain clients or host company outings to watch the game." The space is also "available on non-game days." Meanwhile, the Reds are "opening a new family-friendly area on the View Level (the upper deck)." The TriHealth Family Zone will be an "interactive area where parents can bring their youngsters." It will also "offer a second Pampers Nursing Suite and a TriHealth Sensory Room for fans with autism or others who need a break from the ballpark noise" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/10).
SAFETY FIRST: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred yesterday said that all 30 MLB teams are "extending protective netting beyond the dugouts" for the '20 season. The Reds "extended their protective netting to the end of each dugout" prior to '18. Their netting "won’t extend to each foul pole because of logistical reasons, but it will expand from the end of the dugouts" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 12/12).
