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Scoreboard To Put LHS Fans Close to Action
The Ledger - Published Thur., July 19, 2007 By Roy Fuco

Lakeland Dreadnaughts football fans will now have a choice on how they want to watch the action Friday nights at Bryant Stadium. They can either view the game on the field or sit back and watch the action on a new state-of-the-art-video scoreboard. The scoreboard, thought to be the first in Florida owned by a high school, will be yet another thing that sets Lakeland football apart from the average football program - beyond its three-straight state titles.

Supporters say the scoreboard will benefit the entire athletic department, along with many other school groups and the school's TV production class. The scoreboard, 39 1/2 feet tall and 45 feet wide, is being built by Daktronics, and installation should begin Aug. 3. Prep work, conduits for the electrical power, for example, has already begun. Total cost of the project is $400,000, including $300,000 for the scoreboard. The video screen, which is 15 feet by 20 feet, will show live game action, replays, commercials and features on the Lakeland football team and other athletic teams and school groups.

School officials expect it to be ready for the season opener against Okeechobee on Aug. 31. It will replace a 2-year-old scoreboard that is moving to Nelson Field on the Lakeland campus. "It's right down to the wire, but I think we're going to make it," said Sid Kimbrell, Lakeland's director of football operations. Mike Nichols, vice president of the booster club, is spearheading the project. It is the brainchild of booster club member Mike Martin, whose son is a linebacker at Lakeland. Martin came up with the idea during the season while watching games. He is director of engineering at IntellisMedia, a subsidiary of WUSF, and his group has installed video scoreboards at facilities around the country, including the San Antonio Spurs' and Seattle Seahawks'. "We wouldn't be doing this without him," Kimbrell said.

From December through February, Martin investigated whether it was possible to get the scoreboard for Bryant Stadium and considered the timetable to have it for 2008. Enough excitement for the project was generated when the idea was presented at the football banquet that the timetable was accelerated. "We had enough people coming to us, so we said, 'Let's do it,'" Martin said. The Lakeland football booster club is paying for the scoreboard and installation. The county is removing the old scoreboard and handling conduits for the electrical power.

The cost of project, financed by Community Southern Bank, is being paid for by advertising. All the advertising panels have been sold, and about 25 percent to 35 percent of the commercials that will be aired during the game have been sold. Nichols, the booster club vice president, said it should be paid off in 3 1/2 years. After that, money earned by the scoreboard will be used throughout the athletic department. Already, groups other than football are benefiting from the scoreboard. Among groups selling commercials that will be played during the game are the band, ROTC, cheerleaders, Anchorettes, baseball, basketball, wrestling and soccer. They will keep a percentage of the proceeds from the sales as fundraisers.

The advertising panels for the scoreboard sold out quickly. There are six bigger panels, three on each side, that sold for $5,000 per year for five years. Six smaller panels along the bottom of the scoreboard sold for $3,000 per year for three years. Sponsors include Publix, Southern Homes, Springer-Peterson Roofing, Hooters and State Farm, among others. There will be about 30 commercials per game, from $100 for a 15-second spot to $200 for 30 seconds. The school will pay Daktronics $5,000 per year for maintenance. Martin said it will take about six or seven people to run the scoreboard and the four cameras on game night.

Initially, Martin and co-workers at WUSF will volunteer their time to run the equipment during games and will train the school's TV production class. "It's going to give them real-world experience producing real commercials and real production," Nichols said. The class will eventually produce the commercials as well as features on the football team or highlights from other sports teams that will run during the games. Initially, Lakeland officials didn't expect to be able to show replays during the game, but after meeting with the Florida High School Athletic Association, a compromise was reached. Lakeland can show replays once and at fullspeed, no slow motion, and should avoid showing replays of controversial calls.