ISU will install new football scoreboard

Football fans at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames will have a new scoreboard and sound system next season, after an Iowa State University plan was approved by the state Board of Regents today.

The new $4 million video scoreboard and sound system will be moved to the north end of Jack Trice Stadium, integrated with the Jacobson Building at that end of the stadium. The scoreboard currently is at the stadium's south end, but the eventual plan is to bowl in the south end zone with seats and an upper deck, so ISU officials wanted to move the scoreboard in advance of that.

The regents, meeting today in Iowa City, unanimously approved the plan.

The current stadium scoreboard and sound system, purchased in 2002, is outdated and obsolete technology, ISU officials said. And in many areas of the stadium, it is difficult to understand the audio output of the sound system, they said.

The typical life of a football stadium scoreboard is 10 to 12 years, ISU Athletics Director Jamie Pollard said. As technology improves, fan expectations change, Pollard said.

“The difference between what we currently have and a high-definition scoreboard greatly enhances the fan experience,” he said.

ISU will buy the new scoreboard and sound system from Daktronics, the same company that made the current scoreboard and the scoreboard in Hilton Coliseum.

ISU plans to finance the $4 million purchase, with payments estimated at $556,400 per year for 10 years, with interest of 6.5 percent. Funding for the payments will come from athletic department revenues and scoreboard advertising.