LSU's Maravich Center to have largest video board in college hoops

BATON ROUGE – The Maravich Center on the LSU campus will be home to the largest center hung videoboard in college basketball when the school completes installation of the new board later this month.

Featuring the latest in HD technology, the Maravich Center videoboard would rank 11th in size among all center hung boards in NBA arenas.

“This is a huge upgrade to that facility that will have an immediate impact for our fans,” LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva said. “It’s a perfect match for the excitement we can expect in that arena with volleyball, women’s basketball, and of course our top-ranked gymnastics program and our men’s basketball team under new head coach Will Wade."

The videoboard will feature two sideline high-definition screens that each measure 42 feet by 21 feet for a total of 882 square feet of video space per board. The baseline facing boards, also in HD, will measure 24 feet by 20.5 feet for 984 square feet of video space. In all, the videoboard will give fans 2,748 square feet of HD video.

Alleva said the videoboard, priced at over $3 million, was fully funded by the Tiger Athletic Foundation and will be used for sporting events and other major events in the Maravich Center including LSU’s commencement ceremonies, which take place three times a year in the venue.

“LSU athletics and the Tiger Athletic Foundation are fully invested in providing the best in-game experience possible for our fans while giving our student-athletes every advantage possible to have success,” Alleva said. “This new videoboard goes a long way to helping accomplish both of those goals.”

To put the size of the videoboard into perspective, it would take 105 50-inch televisions to equal the size of the new board.

“No matter if it was the largest in the country or not, we wanted to create the best possible game-day atmosphere for our fans,” LSU Deputy Athletic Director Eddie Nunez said. “It isn’t just big, it’s the latest in technology and will allow us to feature a brand new suite of services to make the game experience just that much more exciting. This board is a game changer for our student-athletes and our fans.”

Some of the features that fans can expect to enjoy with the videoboard include:

True 16:9 aspect high-definition video

Dedicated area for game-in-progress information (score, clock, etc.), individual and team stats

Dynamic content area that will feature out of town scores, crowd prompts, in-depth player stats and social media content

In addition to the new center hung videoboard, the Maravich Center will be outfitted with four new portal screens, which will replace the scoreboards that used to occupy that space. There will also be a new scorer’s table LED board.

The portal screen boards and scorer’s table will feature game-in-progress information, stats and other dynamic content.

All new boards and screens in the Maravich Center can be tied together to produce content or unique displays during the course of a game or event.

Here’s what members of the LSU coaching staff had to say about the new videoboards in the Maravich Center:

Gymnastics coach D-D Breaux:

"This video board is going to be the largest in NCAA gymnastics. Our fan experience is something we take great pride in, and this is only going to enhance the experience for the 10,000-plus fans that pack the PMAC."

Women’s basketball coach Nikki Fargas:

“The installation of the video board at the Maravich Center will allow our fans to connect with our team and the game in so many new ways. We are excited about what this brings to women’s basketball and all the sports that call this building home.”

Volleyball coach Fran Flory:

"We are thrilled to be the first team to compete under the new scoreboard. This is THE best in the country. The opportunities to provide incredible video and statistical enhancements at our events are endless. Fans are going to LOVE what this adds to all of our events."

Men’s basketball coach Will Wade:

“I know our fans will be excited about the videoboard being installed in the Maravich Center. It will be an outstanding addition to the fan experience that we will be trying to incorporate into our basketball games to give our team a great home-court advantage.”