Austadiums Forum

Two huge new video screens will be installed at the MCG in time for the 2013 Boxing Day Ashes Test match. The new screens will be the largest of any Australian stadium, measuring 25 metres wide and 13 metres high.

It has been a two year process, with MCG management visiting some of the world’s best and newest stadia in an effort to improve the fan experience at Australia’s largest stadium.

The new vision boards will be more than double the size of the existing screens, part of a continuous upgrade designed to maintain the MCG at the forefront of the stadium experience.

They’ll sit in the existing housing on level 4 in the Ponsford and Olympic stands, which currently includes three advertising boards as well as the existing video screens.

“We are excited by the imminent arrival of new vision boards,” said Melbourne Cricket Club CEO Stephen Gough.

“Patrons will enjoy a larger screen format, with better technology, that will really enrich the experience of watching sport at the MCG.

A tender process saw Daktronics Australia, a leading provider of electronic scoreboards and digital display systems around the world, selected as the supplier for the two vision boards.

Daktronics also installed screens at the SCG, Metricon Stadium, Skoda Stadium, Simonds Stadium and is contracted to install the new screens at the revamped Adelaide Oval.

The new screen at the Sydney Cricket Ground currently holds the title of largest in Australia at 24.84 metres wide by 10.97 metres high. Prior to that, the two screens installed in 2009 at ANZ Stadium were the biggest, measuring 23 metres by 10. The two new MCG screens will be similar width but a couple of metres higher than the SCG.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground was the first stadium in Australia to have a full-colour video screen – installed in 1982, while the first scoreboard was erected at the western end of the ground way back in 1881.

The current western end vision board was re-installed in April, 2004 as part of the MCG redevelopment. It had initially been removed in October, 2002 when the Ponsford Stand was demolished.

A second vision board - a Sony JumboTron - had existed in the Olympic Stand since September 1994, but was removed and sold prior to the demolition of the Olympic Stand in October, 2004. A new state-of-the-art Mitsubishi screen at the eastern end was installed in late-2005.

The new state-of-the-art video screens are sure to offer fans the best possible in-ground experience. Work will commence following the 2013 AFL Grand Final and is expected to be completed by Christmas.

cam wrote:They're doing the Punt Rd end first (Olympic Stand) - they said it'll be ready for one of the upcoming T20 Big Bash games, not sure which one though. Plenty of photos on the MCG facebook/twitter pages.