WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - When fans enter Ross-Ade Stadium for the first time this football season, there will be a couple noticeable changes, including the addition of a new $1.7 million LED videoboard in the south end zone.
Before fans can even get to their seats, however, they will notice a series of Purdue football banners, which will hang from the concourse rafters. Action Sports Media has produced a total of 58 banners, with two banners hanging back to back, in 29 different locations around the Ross-Ade concourse.
"It's based on a walk of fame or a walk of pride of Purdue football history," said Tiffany Spartz of Action Sports Media. "The partnership between ASM and Purdue has allowed us to do this."
The banners, which are 17 feet wide by 7 feet tall, have seven general themes to them, including Purdue's Big Ten championship teams; consensus All-America selections; the Cradle of Quarterbacks; the rivalry trophies, including the Old Oaken Bucket, Shillelagh and Cannon; Purdue traditions such as Purdue Pete and the "All-American" Marching Band; the first Purdue football team from 1887; and fan montages from throughout history.
"We will be adding a new look to the stadium," Spartz said.
Also adding an exciting look and feel to the stadium experience is a new state-of-the-art Daktronics video board. The new LED screen is 31-feet high by 68-feet wide and will significantly enhance replay with clearer and crisper picture quality.
The previous scoreboard fans had seen had three separate video boards: one showing statistics, one showing advertisements and one showing video and replay. The new structure contains one large video screen and has the capability to display the information in the same way or it can display a combination of the three, according to Steve Simmerman, assistant athletics director for facilities.
"The entire screen can be a live video shot if we want it to be, or we can segment it down," Simmerman said. "There are lots of different configurations that the screen can be divided into within that one large video screen."
The upgrade to the new video board is just another step in the renovations to Ross-Ade Stadium. The previous scoreboard was 10 years old, and Simmerman said staying up to date with current technology was important when upgrading the scoreboard.
More importantly, upgrading the scoreboard will also enhance the overall game experience for every Purdue fan that comes to Ross-Ade, Simmerman said.
"We are trying to stay abreast of the technology and offer our fans that come to Ross-Ade Stadium the highest quality experience we can offer them," he said. "And this is a part of that experience."
Even though it may not have much of an impact in the way he manages a football game, head coach Joe Tiller said the new additions to Ross-Ade will increase the overall appeal of the game-day environment for Purdue fans.
"It's part of the aesthetics, it's part of the entertainment package, and I think that's the best way to describe it," the 11th-year Boilermaker grid boss said. "Fans will enjoy it."
