GRAMBLING — Grambling State is in talks with a major supplier about replacing its aging scoreboard.
GSU football coach Melvin Spears says he has met with the well-known sign manufacturer Daktronics, and is also exploring possible financing options.
"A new scoreboard would upgrade these facilities — and we have some of the best in the country on our level," said Spears.
GSU's current scoreboard is antiquated, and doesn't include the kind of advertising space that has become so valuable to college programs. The proposed replacement would be positioned on the existing platform at Robinson Stadium.
"There are a couple of different ways to get those things financed," said Spears, who estimates the cost at about $500,000. "Daktronics will make it very feasible. The question is: Will it get done this year?"
Daktronics, founded in 1968, reports that tens of thousands of its scoreboards and display systems have been installed in more than 70 countries on six continents.
The Brookings, S.D.-based company — a perennial Olympic sign partner dating back to the 1980 Winter Games — has installed new light-emitting diode (or LED) signs in the stadiums of NFL teams like Detroit, Cleveland and New England, as well as Fenway Park in Boston and Tower Records' landmark Sunset Strip. Daktronics also provides mobile display systems for the Nextel NASCAR series.
Spears said he was introduced to the company by Louisiana-Lafayette coach Nelson Stokley.
"He has (a scoreboard) with instant replay," Spears said. "We kind of designed our own. It will be similar in nature."
The mockup from Daktronics includes a traditional Grambling "G" above an LED scoreboard, with tiger tracks along the top. There are spots for two permanent sponsors on either side of the scoring displays, with a pair of rotating displays below them.
"We will be able to have that advertising piece, a true sponsorship," said Spears. "We are looking at four slots as permanent spots and the others would revolve. It's nice."
Source: TheNewsStar.com
Posted By: Darryl D. Smith
Tuesday, June 7th 2005 at 2:22PM
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