dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog

If you happen to live within a mile of Autzen Stadium, you know how loud its sound system can be. Coaches often turn up the volume, replicating a stadium full of passionate fans. It prepares the team for a high-profile game in a hostile environment. That sound system is getting an upgrade.

Autzen will have college football’s largest scoreboard. The 186-by-66-foot video board will have a state-of-the-art sound system, will cost $12.1 million. A second screen will be visible from the parking lot. Tardy tailgaters will be able to watch what they are missing.

Athletic Director Rob Mullens told UO’s finance and facilities committee in March that the privately financed $12.1 million mega-screen was “something that will certainly enhance the fan experience.” That was before the COVID-19 lock-down began.

Nobody knows yet what will happen to the fall sports seasons. Will football be delayed until the virus is under control? Will early games be canceled altogether? Will they be played with a fraction of fans present or with no fans at all?

NCAA initially planned for the spring basketball tournaments to be played in empty arenas. Days later, the tournaments were canceled altogether, leaving fans with March malaise in place of March madness.

That got me thinking about my own ideas about what will certainly enhance the fan experience. That $12 million scoreboard may be coming just in time to have something here that no other stadium experience provides. If we’re going to have the biggest, why not also have the best?

Oregon has an opportunity here to innovate, which has become central to its national and international brand. That mega-screen should be equipped to receive live video from remote locations.

The screen already shows scenes from around the stadium. Everybody does that. It doesn’t require much more sophistication to add a live feed from other locations. The University of Oregon’s Alumni Association has active chapters in dozens of cities. They designate a local bar where Ducks meet to watch each game.

Local fans should see fans congregating all over the world. We’re mastering remote learning. Why not remote cheering?

It would look like the world’s largest Zoom call. Fans making noise together, from bars and event centers all over the globe. That would enhance the fan experience! It might also motivate our players, who may be playing in an empty stadium.

This fall, Oregonians may be allowed to meet only in groups no larger than 25, but 12,276 square feet of screen space leaves plenty of room for a substantial crowd to be seen and heard inside Autzen — and in all the neighborhoods nearby.

That 47-by-26-foot exterior-facing video board could also be used this fall in ways nobody expected. Tailgaters might be allowed on the grounds to enjoy the game as if they were at a drive-in movie, which wouldn’t be so bad.

I’d love to see (and hear) Ducks from across the country and around the world bringing their enthusiasm directly into Autzen Stadium. It’s not done anywhere else.

==

Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com.

Tags: No Comments