Projects: Atlanta Ups Game On Gigantic Stadium LED Boards

February 3, 2015 by Dave Haynes

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The NFL’s Atlanta Falcons have selected Daktronics to build a unique, utterly huge circular LED video display for a new stadium that will open in two years.

The LED halo board will be a centerpiece of the new downtown stadium, which will host the Falcons and a new MLS soccer team.

The display totals roughly 64,000 square feet, 3X the biggest current display inside an NFL stadium. It is 58 feet high and 1,100 feet in circumference.

The new facility replaces the Georgia Dome, which is all of 25 years old. In the crazy world of massive owner egos and corporate sponsor expectations in pro sports, that’s an old building. I have a friend with a Toyota Camry older than that.

“The LED video halo board Daktronics is building for the new Atlanta stadium is a game changer in every way,” says Atlanta Falcons President & CEO Rich McKay. “Our goal at the outset was to reimagine the stadium experience, and the halo board is consistent with this vision. It’s a display that has never been created before with the latest technology, and we are thrilled that Daktronics is helping us to deliver this unique experience to our fans and guests.”

The halo board will provide do all the usual live game and replay stuff, and will divided into multiple sections to highlight video, scoring and statistics, graphics and animations, and other game information.

“This ‘halo’ display is really a test of engineering capabilities and architecture coordination that our team at Daktronics is proud to accomplish,” says Daktronics CEO Reece Kurtenbach. “Installing such a non-traditional display shows our depth and capabilities as a company beyond common rectangle shapes as we strive to provide our customers with complete solutions, no matter what their aspirations may be for their video displays and overall fan experience at their venue.”

I don’t think this scale of project and the engineering demands really fit Nanolumens capabilities, but it must grate at those guys to see a massive project right in their hometown go out of state to South Dakota’s Daktronics. But Daktronics pretty much owns the LED business these days in big US stadiums.

As for the display, interesting concept, but if I am on the sidelines or the lowest level seats, I am really tilting my head back to see a replay. Receivers who have been known to look at LED boards to see who’s in pursuit will just about fall over if they want to look at these screens.

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