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Installation under way for YSU’s Pepsi scoreboard
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
Bo Pelini won’t be the only big addition to Stambaugh Stadium this fall.
Youngstown State began work on its north end scoreboard this week, removing the previous videoboard to make room for one that will be about twice as big.
The new videoboard will be 20 feet high by 35 feet wide and will cost between $350,000 and $400,000. It weighs 7,000 pounds, has a 9,000 nits rating (which measures the display brightness) and 16mm LED spacing (which refers to pixel density).
Pepsi will cover the cost, with the funding coming from the company’s 10-year “pouring rights” contract that began last fall.
It’s the same setup YSU used to pay for its previous videoboard, which was installed in August 2004 and paid for by Coca-Cola. There will be no public funds used for the new videoboard.
“These things have about a 10-year life span — really it’s about eight or nine — and fortunately it matches up with the pouring rights contract,” YSU athletic director Ron Strollo said. “Obviously, it’s [the videoboard] going to be a lot better than the one we have.”
YSU also will replace the smaller south end scoreboard, which will not have a videoboard and will look similar to the YSU softball field scoreboard. The biggest difference is it will use LED bulbs instead of the old light bulbs. The company that installed the previous south end scoreboard, White Way, went out of business and YSU can’t even buy replacement parts for it anymore, Strollo said.
The board is manufactured by a Chinese company, Absen, but the supplier is LED3, a display and signage company out of Canfield.
“That’s the thing we were most excited about, that we were able to award it to a local company,” Strollo said.
The previous scoreboard had a rectangular light bulb scoreboard on the left (which featured the score, time, down and distance, etc.) and a square-shaped videoboard on the right. The new videoboard will take up the whole center and display the scoreboard information digitally at the bottom of the screen, with game action above.
“Obviously, we’ll have the opportunity to show replays and sponsorship stuff when play is not in progress,” Strollo said. “It should provide an opportunity to raise some extra dollars.”
It was sometimes difficult to see the former board during shadowy afternoon games, something Strollo hopes won’t be a big problem with the new board.
YSU also is hoping to update the stadium’s lighting and the tiny east side press box, with the money coming from fundraising dollars, not the athletic budget. Stambaugh Stadium’s current lighting has between 40 and 45 foot-candles, which refers to the units that measure the intensity of the light falling on the field.
Had YSU hosted a first-round playoff game the past two years, the games would have kicked off at noon since the lighting doesn’t meet the NCAA’s standards. That would have been fatal for YSU’s attendance, since the games would have gone head-to-head with the Ohio State-Michigan game.
The NCAA recommends 75 foot-candles for regional broadcasts, 100 for national broadcasts and 125 for championship broadcasts.
YSU would like to have the new lights installed for its 7 p.m. home opener against Robert Morris on Sept. 12. Ideally, the Penguins would draw a big crowd to see it, Strollo said.
“Ticket sales are more than double what they were at this time last year, so that part is going well,” Strollo said. “But at the end of the day, we need students. If we don’t start recruiting more students, we’re going to have a challenge.”