Michigan athletics is requesting new scoreboards for the Big House
Essentially Warde Manuel and the athletic department sent a letter to the Regents requesting approval to proceed with replacing the Big House scoreboards. They reason that the technology behind the current scoreboards is becoming obsolete and it's becoming difficult to replace parts. The new scoreboards would be the same height but wider than the current versions
March 21st, 2022 at 12:57 PM ^
If approved, the project would cost 41 million (all from the athletic department budget) and would be completed in fall of 2023
Obviously this is a fan mockup, but it seemed like a pretty likely depiction of what it would end up looking like:
It would be cool if that was close to how it looked, however, my guess is the video portion would be about the same as the current boards and the 'expanded' sections would be for ads/sponsors. Which IMO will be very not cool.
*See my original post below for additional context including the STH survey the department sent out
Ads in the stadium are not acceptable. I have to believe the AD knows that. Our restraint here is famous and special (only ND shares this distinction with us, among the P5). To give that up would be unconscionable. Makes me shudder.
I for one would love it if every square inch were emblazoned with MUSCLE MILK
I wonder how many people would accept ads if it meant ticket prices went down or remained flat for the next 5-7 years.
For me, bring in a few ads if the trade off was cheaper tickets for the fans and not just more revenue to the department.
Wait - I thought the AD budget was still red - or very tight if black - because of Covid? I guess they found $41M laying around and felt the need to spend it. (Feels similar to the way my wife handles finances...)
So I guess the moral of the story here is that we'll be seeing ads inside Michigan Stadium within the next two years.
They're not building the boards tomorrow...also, unlike buying out a coaching staff already under contract (while in the middle of a pandemic), they can easily get creative with ways to pay for the boards.
Put it on credit and pay it down $10-15M at a time if you have to...or start fundraising for it.
Or, shudders...ads would cover the cost. Ads don't bother me that much, but it better go to ticket prices, not to payoff the boards.
We already have largest stadium, being one of two stadiums who don't have ads...just doesn't carry the same weight. I think it can be done tastefully, with some type of policy added to prevent it from every growing out of control.
Seems like yesterday we updated those scoreboards
2011 was the first year of the new boards
Definitely seems wasteful to me
And we updated them in 1999. Before that, it was probably 50 years. Arms race for sure.
I completely agree with the "obsolete"-ness of the old boards, though. In the last 11 years, has the cost of your basic 65" living room TV come down while it's foundation technology increased exponentially?
The only answer here, is "YES". And the same is true of all technology related items - the new boards will be vastly technologically superior while costing less over the next 11 years (even if a $41M price tag seems high today). I suspect the entire stadium sound system will also be upgraded with this (it should be).
All that aside, advertisements aren't far behind. Time to hit Warde with the anti-ad letters now!
I like this version of the scoreboard
And this one:
I think they should save the 41 million and go back to manual scoreboards. I'd volunteer for that job!
Didn’t we (relatively speaking) just re-do those scoreboards?
I get it. College football, and college athletics by extension, is an arms race. Just seems crazy that we are already redoing the scoreboards.
I guess depending on how wide they make them, I wonder if it would at all help with keeping the crowd noise inside the stadium for big home games?
Yes, it was just done in 2011. And yes, if it's wide enough to encircle either end of the stadium, then it should help a little to keep in the noise
Kind of off topic, but did anyone else get the football season ticket holder survey? Some of the questions were pretty off-putting. For example, "would you rather us raise ticket prices or have ads in the stadium?" Umm, neither. Was really hoping they'd have a freeform response section to be able to voice displeasure over things like charging $50 to get paper tickets.
But reading between the lines, seems like they're really leaning towards plastering the Big House with ads, which is pretty sad.
May be a product of the lost revenue from the COVID season and attempts to bring the athletic department back into green
I got that and I agree it was a bit off putting. Definitely felt like a build up to significant price increases. They also didn't provide any free text comment fields which was new this year. It definitely doesn't feel like they are considering doing anything to ease the bubble of attendance. I suppose as long as Michigan keeps winning they will be ok, but if the team goes backwards and they continue the shitty non-conference schedule it could get dicey.
I did and I feel the exact same way. "Shall I saw you left arm off or your right arm, you pick???"
This was not a kinder, friendlier survey at all!
I got the survey as well. As noted there was a heavy lean towards gauging resistance to advertising with a sprinkling of "hey, we're thinking of alcohol sales too".
It definitely seemed a bit narrow and heavy-handed. That said, if they did it right I wouldn't be opposed to advertising in the stadium. Around the concourse, sure. There's plenty of that already. Inside the bowl and on the scoreboards? Hell no and more hell no.
The Wifi option was curious - if they gave reliable wifi at the cost of sponsor integration to it I'd be so down for that. I am so tired of terrible signal quality because the towers in the area can't keep up. I'd even be fine with them asking for like $10 or so per game to use it.
I have my doubts that it's only because the technology is obsolete. As the other poster said there was a survey sent to STH and of the many questions asked having advertisements/sponsors in the stadium was featured prominently along with alcohol sales. I think the athletic department may be using 'obsolete technology' as an excuse to put new boards in with room for ads/sponsors...or at least big enough to have them if they need. They seem to have found the tipping point with the price of tickets and are trying to find other revenue sources. I have mixed feelings as the price of tickets is getting to where the average fan cant attend...but much of the beauty of Michigan Stadium is the lack of ads/sponsors in the bowl. It's a shame having ads/sponsors may be the compromise to keeping ticket prices 'reasonable'.
In my season ticket holder survey I was careful to torch any concept of advertisements in the stadium.
I've been to away games where those ads are incredibly annoying and distracting. Hell, even at Yost that is the case.
I agree with the lack of ads being a feature, but how much more are you willing to pay to keep that? It does not seem like they have any intention of learning to live with the revenue they have, so they seem to be saying they are going to get more. I am near my breaking point financially for tickets, personally.
As am I, and many of my friends. I was very disappointed with the survey and the obvious choice to not allow comments or an 'other' option. However, I am not sure what the alternative is as they are obviously not interested in living with the current revenue, and as players continue to get lucrative NIL deals it's only a matter of time before some of the TV money goes to players so they are doing everything to try and compensate. Perhaps knowing some of the ad/sponsor money directly and or indirectly will be going to players may help soften the blow.
I agree with the lack of ads being a feature, but how much more are you willing to pay to keep that?
I get what you're saying, but I think a question that goes hand-in-hand with that is "how much more can you charge before people stop buying tickets?" Attendance has already been declining across the board. Maybe some of it was pandemic related and/or residual from 2020, but in one of if not our best season in 20 years, attendance was lower than one might expect. And it's not just us. Even the elite of the elite programs, like Bama and OSU, are having trouble filling their stadiums.
So it's a double edged sword, and there's a very delicate balance. Because if you raise prices too much, a large percentage of people are just going to stop coming.
I 100% agree with your last sentence. But, I have seen zero evidence that UM is aware of that or believes it.
I also agree about the ticket prices driving the average person out. Constantly raising ticket and seating fees was what finally ended it for us. Sure miss the atmosphere and tailgates but my bank account is happier.
If the choice was absolutely between playing ads or raising ticket prices, I would choose the former. Everyone else in the country is playing ads at games and it must generate a lot of cash for schools.
I just don't really buy that there is a need for increased revenue. They already make fuck tons it's hard to imagine there is a desperate need for more money (besides the temporary 2020 season)
I'm all for having nicer things. That said, I'd rather we use them more effectively, too.
Examples:
- Better use of replay for controversial plays
- A continuous ticker of other games across the country
- Highlights of other games across the country for particularly meaningful moments of relevance to us
Can we get a new student section for basketball, too? The students are spread out all over the place in Crisler.
Bigger, stronger, faster
A bigger scoreboard is intended for more advertising, full stop. This move is inevitable because there's precious little surface area in the interior of the stadium to monetize.
That seizure-inducing strip in MSU's stadium is 98% Quality Dairy and Sundance Chevrolet ads, 2% score ticker.
We should finance it with endless sports gambling ads.
/s
So they *must* be bigger and more numerous than the scoreboards residing in EL, because: Re2pekt
And please make them louder.
That would be one of the few positives IMO. After traveling to many of the other large stadiums and experiencing game day Michigan's sound system pails in comparison both in terms of loudness and sound quality...Not sure I would trade a better sound system for ads though.
They sounded like dog shit when they were introduced in 2011. Hell I remember going to a spring game/practice or whatever during the big remodel. I remember walking to the stadium and I could hear this music coming from the stadium and I was like...sweet, new sound system must be up and running even though the scoreboards weren't in.
Nope, they brought in a tiny portable sound system for the spring game. Ok, no big deal, I was just imagining what it was going to sound like when the ACTUAL built into the scoreboard audio was fired up. Man was I wrong. Somebody fucked that thing up in a huge way. They need to fix it.
Aahaa so this is why I just got a survey that literally said pick which one you are more in favor of, higher ticket prices or more advertising. So we’re going to pay more money to fund a $41 million dollar scoreboard so they can put up more advertising.
100% of survey responses supported at least one of higher ticket prices or more advertising. We're going to go above and beyond and give our beloved season ticket holders both!
I like this scoreboard...
This is the scoreboard I remember, and I like it. Gives you what you need for the game at hand, is easy to read, and doesn't contain advertisements.
This is what a *scoreboard* looks like... not a streaming advertisement screen.
Scoreboards are probably a good recruiting tool. Recruits step in to the stadium and see some fantastic graphics on a giant, high def scoreboard it will likely leave a better impression than the current set up. So if we want to keep pace in the arms race, upgraded scoreboards will be needed.
How to pay for them is another debate.
A better recruiting tool would be a $41M NIL fund and keep the current scoreboards.
- My opinion doesn't matter, as I am not a season ticket holder, and I do not attend more than a couple games a year. I don't have skin in the game.
- I get the technology thing, but it would really seem helpful to buy something that won't be obsolete in another 10 years, or at the least, have enough hardware and tech people to update it and service it for the next 15 years.
- The arms race in general is irritating and out of control.
- I am all over not having ads.
- Which speaking of ads, I am all over paying $100 a year for mgoblog, and having the option to end the never ending stream of ads. I am so tired of ads that I pretty much want to boycott any advertiser who I see.
I concur with the irritation with not only the ads, but the companies in them, to the point of nearly taking it personally. I'm glad it's not just me, honestly.
Ads and a louder sound system? No thanks. Drove me out of Yost and not going to increase my meager desire to go to Michigan Stadium.
Ads and a louder sound system? No thanks. Drove me out of Yost and not going to increase my meager desire to go to Michigan Stadium.