The Mets are once again the butt of the joke.
Last year, they famously announced the details of their concert series while fans were awaiting some sort of helpful transaction, and this year, it’s changes to the scoreboard. This comes less than 24 hours after the Nationals signed former CY Young Award Winner Max Scherzer to a seven-year contract.
The main scoreboard will be 62 percent larger than the original, according to a press release from the team.
Here’s the full release:
FLUSHING, N.Y., – January 19, 2015 – The New York Mets announced today they are installing a new Daktronics high definition Citi Field centerfield video board that is 62% larger than the original screen. Beginning this week, Daktronics will design, manufacture and install at Citi Field one of the first 13HD LED centerfield video board displays inside a professional baseball venue that will be 62% bigger than the original Citi Field centerfield board. The new board, set to debut on Opening Day, April 13, will measure 5,670 square feet (Up from 3,500 square feet).
The installation puts the Mets in the top 10 largest displays in professional baseball and makes Citi Field one of the few baseball venues to feature more than one video capable LED display in the seating bowl. The installation brings the total square footage of all displays in the Mets’ super-system to more than 17,000 square feet. The previous total square footage was 13,500 and replacing older technology is providing a total of 7,000 square feet of new video display technology.
“As we look forward to a great season on the field in 2015, these significantly bigger and higher resolution video boards are state-of-the-art in size and LED technology and reinforce our commitment to provide our fans a superior experience when attending games at Citi Field,” said Mets COO Jeff Wilpon.
The new true high definition video display in centerfield will measure 54 feet high by 105 feet wide and feature a 13HD pixel layout resulting in more than 1.5 million pixels. This product provides superior brightness in an outdoor application to combat direct sunlight while upholding excellent image clarity and contrast. It incorporates extensively tested components and instills multiple levels of protection from the elements.
The display is capable of highlighting one large image for video and instant replays. It can also be divided into multiple sections to show a variety of scoring and statistical information, graphics and animations, sponsor messages, and special announcements.
The two ribbon displays along the leftfield fascia of the seating areas will measure approximately five feet high by 234 feet wide and five feet high by 49 feet wide respectively. The larger display will feature sponsor messaging and the other display will track strikeouts of opposing batters by Mets pitchers via a “K-Board.” Attached you can find renderings of what the new centerfield scoreboard and leftfield LED board will look like compared with last season.
“Providing new displays for Citi Field is a great opportunity for Daktronics and we are proud to continue our partnership with the New York Mets,” said Daktronics Vice President of Live Events Jay Parker. “Adding this new main video display which features the premier outdoor LED technology in the industry today shows a commitment to providing fans and players with the highest level of excitement and entertainment at every baseball game.”
Daktronics LED video and messaging display technology offers a long lifetime with minimal maintenance and low power consumption, providing value and excitement for years to come.
The line that really caught me was this one: The installation puts the Mets in the top 10 largest displays in professional baseball and makes Citi Field one of the few baseball venues to feature more than one video capable LED display in the seating bowl.
How about if the Mets were in the top 10 in payroll? Sure, it might make for a nicer experience while at the game, but I think fans would much rather see a winning product on the field. We’ve had to bitch and moan for long enough to even make some headway in that department.
I don’t know what the Mets’ marketing ‘gurus’ are doing. Sure, they may have planned all along to announce this move today, but with the Nationals making headlines around midnight, it would have been best to at least give it 24 hours before announcing this ‘blockbuster’ transaction.
Allow the ‘Nationals got Scherzer, we got a new scoreboard’ jokes to begin.
I can’t even feel bad for management anymore, they continue to ask for it.
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