The fan experience at Oklahoma State football games in Boone Pickens Stadium will be significantly improved in 2018 with the addition of one of the largest video boards at a college football-only stadium.
 
OSU's new board, which will be located in the east end zone on the outside wall of Gallagher-Iba Arena, measures roughly 56 feet tall and 110 feet wide and has the ability to show live action and full-screen replays at better than 1080HD resolution. It's the eighth-largest video board at a college football-only stadium and has the capability to be windowed into multiple screens that show video, stats, out-of-town scores and more.
 
"This board not only modernizes the game day experience in Boone Pickens Stadium, but it also brings Oklahoma State to the forefront in this area," said Athletic Director Mike Holder. "We have taken input from fans and I believe that adding a premium board like this is a game-changer for all of us who attend Cowboy football games.
 
"We are very grateful to Gary and Claudia Humphreys for making this possible," Holder said. "Gary and Claudia are very passionate football fans. They travel from the Dallas-Fort Worth area to attend each Oklahoma State game every year -- home and away. On our open weeks they find another game to attend. Obviously, they have been in a lot of college football stadiums. We all owe them a big thank you for recognizing the need for a bigger video board in Boone Pickens Stadium and willingness to make the gift that made it possible."
 
Work has already begun on the project. Installation of the board itself will take place in July, with August 1 set as the target date of completion.
 
Daktronics is the manufacturer of the board and is teaming up with W&W Steel out of Oklahoma City on the project.
 
"The recent trend is that video boards in college football stadiums are getting bigger and bigger, but what sets this particular one apart is the fact that it's so close to the field," said Daktronics' Perry Grave. "This board is not on top of the upper deck, far away from the action. It's much closer. The quality of the board, combined with its proximity to the field will give fans a much larger, brighter and better picture."
 
Graves said another unique feature of this board is its brightness. He said it registers at 11,000 nits of brightness, while most similar boards measure 7,000 nits. The reason for the amplified brightness is to account for the fact that OSU's board faces west. That said, the brightness can be adjusted manually to achieve optimum brightness regardless of the position of the sun.
 
All funds used for the board were raised privately, with no expense to taxpayers.
 
The Cowboys open the season when they host Missouri State on September 1 and have seven home games this season. The deadline to renew season tickets is May 1.

Source: okstate.com