Travis Duncan
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A Green Bay Packers fan holds up a sign during the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. The Packers defeated the Vikings 45-7 Nov 14, 2011. Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE
By Travis Duncan
-It goes without saying, watching a game at Lambeau field is a really good, if not great, experience.
Some might argue that it's the best experience in the NFL or all of sports period.
No better proof of that is that the Packers have sold out every home game since 1960, one of the longest streaks in all of American sports.
Renovations to Lambeau field are to be completed by the start of the 2013 season, when 6,700 new seats will be added to the south end zone.
This summer however the Packers, along with the rest of the NFL, are moving quickly to enhance the tech aspect of their stadiums.
One difference you will see at Lambeau Field right away for the start of the 2012 season is at the top of each endzone-two gigantic video boards-part of the $143 renovation.
You can check out photos of the new video boards posted at
http://www.totalpackers.com/2012/06/26/packers-new-video-boards-photos/
or watch a video at
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local/green_bay/lambeau-field-video-board-tour
"There are no finer scoreboards in the country," Tim Connelly, Packers vice president of sales and marketing told Fox 11-TV.
The size of each is equivalent to 1,100 40-inch flat screens. The main screen will show highlights from the game, while lower screens will shows stats and graphics etc.
The Packers video team will get 8 new HD cameras which will show fans more angles, just as you would see replays as you do see on the HD/Plasma TV at home.
"I think our fans are just going to be blown away when they see the clarity and just the great view and vision that you get from these video boards," Packers president Mark Murphy told Gannett Media.
Murphy told the Green Bay Press-Gazette "We’re competing with ourselves, in a sense, because TV is so good and we want to make sure the experience in the stadium is unique. It really focuses on technology.”
And it's not about watching the game with a beer and a hotdog in your hands, it's about that smartphone...
The NFL also wants to put Wi-Fi in every stadium.
Some stadiums across the country have great mobile data network signals and others not so good signals, some stadiums bring in extra reception boosters for events like the Super Bowl but the best way to go is Wi-Fi on smartphones, it's faster and teams always make it free for the fan.
The impetus on technology was a subject at the league meetings last month and the problem of how to keep the at the stadium experience just as tempting as sitting on the couch in front of the HD flat screen has been on the agenda for the NFL and its owners for sometime now, you could estimate it really being at least the last five years. You could probably make a pretty good assumption that it correlates to the advancements in consumer electronics.
Pro Football Talk reports, in 2011, the total paid attendance of 16,562,706 was lower than the prior year’s 16,569,514,
And according to the report overall paid attendance in the league has declined steadily since 2007.
"We believe that it is important to get technology into our stadiums," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said recently.
"We have made the point repeatedly that the experience at home is outstanding, and we have to compete with that in some fashion by making sure that we create the same kind of environment in our stadiums and create the same kind of technology."
