Construction began last week on dismantlement of the old scoreboard at the south end zone of Owen Field.
In its place before the start of the 2008 season will be a state-of-the-art, $4.5 million high-definition video screen totaling 3,689 square feet.
The board will be 113.5 feet wide and 32.5 feet tall. The previous Owen Field screen was only 36 by 21.
The largest video screen in college football, known as the "Godzillatron,” resides at Texas' Royal-Memorial Stadium. Texas' screen debuted in 2006 and is 134 feet wide and 55 feet tall, totaling 7,370 square feet.
But OU's new board is expected to be among the five largest in the nation, along with ones at Texas, Nebraska (4,012 square feet), Texas A&M (3,869) and Arkansas (3,210).
OU is also having a new sound system installed, and the athletics department is in the process of securing HD video cameras for Sooner Vision.
"This technology is on the cutting edge of what is available in today's market, and we're thrilled to bring this kind of innovation to our fans," OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said at the advent of the project. "It will add even more energy to our environments while allowing us to better communicate with the thousands that visit us each year and better serve the sponsors that are so important to our programs.
"In the end, a trip to an OU game will be more complete and more exciting in many ways.”
The video board will be the final piece of a $9.6 million project that included a new center-hung video scoreboard at the Lloyd Noble Center, which was mounted prior to last basketball season, as well as a video board on the north end of Owen Field, which was installed before last football season.
The two football video boards and the basketball board — all built by South Dakota-based Daktronics, Inc. — will have 16 mm HD capable video replay.
The project was approved by the OU Board of Regents in March 2007.
Initial work on the old south end scoreboard has started with removing the face and the lights that displayed the score and time.
The OU athletics department is salvaging several pieces of the old scoreboard in hopes of making them available to fans during an upcoming online auction.
Later this summer, a large crane will be brought in to remove the scoreboard's main structure.
The university is also undergoing improvements to The Switzer Center this summer, which was also approved by the Regents in a separate vote.
These renovations are part of Phase IV of a Memorial Stadium expansion and improvements project that began with Phase I, which included construction of the east side upper deck completed in 2003.
Phase IV, which is expected to be a $12.5 million venture, will include renovations to the team locker room as well as the sports medicine and equipment room spaces.
The Red Room, where team meetings are held and where the media interviews coaches and players after practices and games, will also be expanded and renovated.
In addition, emergency lighting for the public concourses of the stadium will be installed, and the west mezzanine of the stadium will be renovated to add office and studio space for Sooner Vision and the athletics department.
At their next meeting beginning today in Norman, the Regents are expected to vote on whether to approve design plans for Phase IV submitted by the architecture-engineering firm HOK.
Part of the construction should be done by the end of the year. The rest is expected to be completed before the start of the 2009 football season.
Phase II was done in 2004 and featured new restroom and concession facilities on the west side and bricking on the northwest and southwest corners of the stadium.
Phase III, which was completed prior to last football season and totaled $12 million, added new restroom and concession facilities to the north and west concourses of the stadium and a wrought-iron fence around the practice fields.
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Enough talk I can't wait for football season, Texas and OSU better look out we beat you both last year and are on our way to do it again come next fall. On updating the stadium that is great, I really do hope they put more seating in 85,000 OU fans is a lot but I think we should get up to 100,000 and even with 15,000 more seats the stadium would still seel out
Wow, one guy posts something negative and of course you Sooners think he's an OSU fan. As an OSU fan, sounds like the upgrade was needed. I bet it is nice! Terry and Aaron, every school has a few problem kids, care to talk about OU's? Cool, just checking. Congrats on the new Tron, sounds like a nice one.
Hey Rick....I don't know, good question, maybe after you do a "line" with Dexter (I can't spell) Manley, or go bar hopping with Chris (I like 'em young) Collins. Sound like fun? I'm sure Eskimo Joe's will never be the same :)
Hey Ricky, it says you're in Norman, is gas really that expensive to get to the stadium? Enjoy the Viz, I wouldn't want to sit by you griping about how your offense is superior to the last 10 OC's at OU anyway.
Maybe rumors, but I heard that OU is looking at expanding the South endzone and building a new press box in the future...both would be nice...Boomer Sooner!
What many don't realize is that the athletic department is completely self-funded, meaning no state funds are used. Football accounted for 43% of the total revenue of the athletic department (around $65,000,000) last year (source: Athletic Dept Annual Report). Their budgets are completely separate from the academic arm of the university.
Universities now are in big business and $$ has replaced the importance of academics. I'm a huge OU fan but that is reality. I'm glad they are upgrading the stadium, need to keep up with everyone else! I've always felt the scoreboard looked outdated.
The North Endzone scoreboard was done knowing that it may get a club and upper level added. Who knows, maybe it would be designed to look like the endzone at the Raven's stadium. They have a large screen either above or below(?) the skyboxes, instead of club seats at that spot. Who knows when, though?
I won't be watching the big screen there this year due to the Bedlam game being in Stillwater. However, I can imagine how well it will look. I went to a basketball game this year in Norman and really liked the new scoreboard. The picture was amazing. Sure hope this new one for the football field lives up to all the hype. On another note, I do hate the fact that at both OU and OSU, the athletic programs can bring in so much revenue/donations, and the majority of the student body which isn't athletes gets hit with an increase in tuition. I wish there was a better way to offset it.
I like all T-Bone worshippers chiming in. Maybe their godfather will build them a suboridnate edition in Stillwater. So Dick from Yukon can watch wrestling highlights. While smoking a blunt with Adarius. I think Riley would be a good wrestler, fits her anger management situation better than basketball.
Great, now you Spooners get to watch Spooner magic moments from the '70s on a bigger screen, whoopeee!! Anyone ever hear what happened to Charles Thompson? How about Billy "Behind on My Child Support" Simms, wonder what kind of meat he's cooking up at the BBQ these days.....
In response to Scott's concern I can tell you there is not much hope for a more football-oriented scoreboard because it is the sponsers of the boards who are leading the charge to have the new ones installed. The old scoardboard had only enough room for a few ads, but this new electronic one will have plenty of space for all. Hence more revenue for the university. There will be more football than before, but there is a greater chance that the increased football covereage will be eclipsed by all the generous sponsers of Sooner football.
What about the North scoreboard? That's the one in need of a serious upgrade. This gargantuan one on the south end is going to make the north one really look like crap.
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The scoreboard at the Gaylord Family/Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is coming down to make way for a new super-sized scoreboard. by STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN
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BOOMER SOONER! GO OU!!
posted the scores on the score board by hand. (maybe
the numbers that Texas used were bigger ?)