University of North Carolina Athletics
COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: Video Board Q&A
August 20, 2003 | Football
Aug. 20, 2003
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The following is a story from the September issue of the magazine.
By Jones Angell
When Carolina football kicks off against Florida State on August 30th the game won't be the only focal point for fans in Kenan Stadium. The brand-spanking new jumbotron will be on display for the first time in a game environment as the University, the Athletic Department and the football program get to show off their latest investment.
Numerous people are involved in the project, but at the eye of the storm is the Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Promotions, Norwood Teague.
We had a chance to catch up with Teague just weeks before the video board was unveiled.
Tar Heel Monthly: This point has been brought up several time, but could you refresh everyone's memory as to why the board is being unveiled this season and not last season as originally planned?
Norwood Teague: It was all because of state budget problems. We don't want to put up a video board when people aren't getting raises and there are serious problems with the state budget. The university felt like we should wait another year.
THM: Not everyone is going to be happy with everything done on the board, but what are some of your general goals for the video board?
NT: More than anything we want to enhance the crowd, we don't want to take the crowd out of the game. We don't want it to be blaring so much activity on the board that people become consumed with the board and not with the game. We want to help this year's team and help the football program as a whole. We want to promote the university, the athletic department. We want it to be an informational piece, but also something people can have fun with. But, again, we don't want to make it so dominant that it takes people out of the game. We want it to enhance the crowd rather than detract from it.
THM: What about the sightlines? Will everyone be able to see the board clearly?
NT: Most everyone will. We really thought long and hard about where to put it. We did all types of studies about putting it in the other end zone or putting it farther back. We couldn't put it on top of the field house because it couldn't handle the weight and we couldn't put it too far back because that would cut down on too many sightlines. We put it where we did because we felt it was the best looking location for right now and we felt like if we ever extended that end zone, we could just plop it on top of that end zone structure. I think 90% of the people in the stadium will be able to see it very well. We have switched some seats around so that the visitors will not be able to see it very well but that is OK with us. We are hoping all of our fans will be able to see it. The board is so up-to-date technologically that you could be at ten degree angle and still be able to see it.
THM: One of the most anticipated aspects of the board will be the entrance video that will lead the Heels onto the field. Can you let us in on any secrets as to what the video will look like?
NT: We are currently working on it. In fact, we recently spent a whole day shooting some university scenes for it. All I can tell you is that it will be a football traveling through the state and through the university and it will it will embrace our past and look to the future.
THM: Can you give us a preview of some things the fans will see on the board?
NT: There will be a lot of updates as far as stats, quarter stats, halftime stats, that sort of thing. There will be features like the hit of the game, Tar Heels in the pros, Tar Heel trivia, fan interactions and numerous other things.
THM: How will the new sound system improve the audio aspects of gameday?
NT: The old system, we think, was installed in the seventies...it was beyond archaic. We are hoping that the new system is going to help a lot in the stadium, though we want to make sure that it isn't too loud, but we want to make it loud enough...it is a fine balance. We are hoping that with the new technology, we will be able to do that. This new sound system has computerized features that show "hotspots" in the stadium where the volume needs to be louder or softer. We also put speakers underneath the upper deck. That will no longer be an area where the sound is blocked.
THM: Will there be any sponsorship involved with the video board and, if so, who will benefit from the sponsorship fees?
NT: Learfield (the owner of Tar Heel Sports Marketing and the Tar Heel Sports Network) has five sponsored elements per their contract. That will be things like, the "Sprint Scoreboard" which will show scores from around the ACC and other big games around the nation with the Sprint logo on it. We are hoping it will be fan-friendly type sponsorships. We have gotten away from having a lot of the features, a lot of the sit down features where an actual story is told. We want to sponsor elements such as the scoreboard because we feel it not only gives the sponsor more exposure because they are more frequent, but they don't detract from the crowd, they don't force the crowd to sit down and watch a story.
They are virtual advertisements, they are not permanent signs. They were sold very quickly. Another example is the Winn-Dixie tailgate of the game. We will have a tailgate patrol going around the parking lots to pick out the best tailgate to put on the video board. We are doing things like that that not only help the sponsor, but help the crowd as well.
THM: How many people will be involved with the board on gameday?
NT: Probably around 15...maybe a little more if you count everyone who is involved in it somehow. There will probably ten who directly have their hands on the equipment and will be calling what is going on.
THM: There will probably be a learning curve with the board. How long until you think the production will be flawless?
NT: I think by mid-season we are going to get it close. I mean really close to having a lot of what we really want up there. I think we will probably delete some things after the first couple of games, but I don't see us adding a lot. We will probably delete some things and tweak what we have already done. There may be some other things that kind of hit us over the head and make us say, "Wow! We should really be doing this." A larger project that we may need to put in next year, but I think we're close. In retrospect, having the board this year as compared to last year as probably helped the production end quite a bit. I don't think the production level would have been anywhere near what it is going to be this year versus if we had done it last year. It takes an amazing amount of work. If you have never been in video production...it takes a ton of time and a lot of people putting in that time, much more than I think people imagine.
THM: How many e-mails and phone calls do you expect to get after the first game?
NT: I expect that after the first game we will get a lot of comments both ways. Not everybody is going to be happy with it because it is going to be such a dramatic change, but we are going to do the best we can. We need to have thick skin and take suggestions. We all know the Carolina culture, we have looked at a lot of other video boards from around the country to see what others do on their boards. We seen a lot of what we do want to do and a lot of what we don't want to do. I hope it will be something that we are all proud of and very comfortable with.
