The Art and Science of High Tech Baseball Electronic Scoreboards

There are professionals that study everything, from the manner in which someone views a computer screen all the way to the priority items at a baseball game. Studies have shown that the two most viewed areas at a baseball game are home plate and the scoreboard. While home plate will always be a mainstay, a lot of science as well as art have gone into the electronic scoreboard of today.

I remember going to baseball games in the 1960’s. In those days there was a manual scoreboard, flipped with each increasing homerun for the team that made the score. If it was a larger game, there was usually a logo for a sponsor, but that was about it. Years later, electronics entered the fray and the old flip board was replaced with large light bulbs that were controlled from a remote hardwired box. Again, if it was a larger field, a sponsor ad might be in lights, but that was about it.

Today, the world of electronic scoreboards has changed the concept so radically, that the scoreboard is a magical tour of excitement. The LED lights offer an incredible array of visual colors, displaying so much more than just the team’s scores. Video is available to show a sponsor ad, play updates and replays, even information on our favorite players. Manufacturers of baseball scoreboard have teamed up with lighting and audio companies to give the best quality to the fans. The displays themselves have become an art form, combined with computer software for visuals that simply can’t compare with anything else.

Marketing is also a new art and science for the electronic scoreboard. Baseball fans are fiercely supportive of their teams and sponsors take full advantage to make sure the spectators see not only their names, but video, banners and streaming feeds. Marketing companies now work hand-in-hand with many of the recreational organizations, schools and stadiums to coordinate some of the best visual creations around. The topic of marketing has also come to the forefront as those savvy decision makers realize that the sponsorship can offer an incredible return on investment that not only pays for the cost of the electronic scoreboard, but offers continued revenue streams.

While all of this may sound wonderful, the best part is that the cost of the better quality scoreboards has been drastically reduced. This makes a good scoreboard available to even the smaller school fields. There are an incredible array of choices, options and features along with sizes. In other words, you don’t have to be a big stadium to have a high tech scoreboard for your fans. The newer additions of wireless, internet, social media and smartphone apps have opened up another universe to the baseball electronic scoreboard. Our expectation levels for a scoreboard have skyrocketed past game updates into a realm of virtual experience; even offering those that are absent from the game, the ability to watch on their electronic devices. The scoreboard is now not just a board, but a piece of art and science.

Sources:
ehow.com/about_6664212_baseball-scoreboard-information.html