Video screens being installed

[CdnSailor]

VIDEO SCREENS BEING INSTALLED AT THE SAVE-ON-FOODS MEMORIAL CENTRE
State of the art screens the newest feature at Victoria’s top venue!


For Immediate Release
Friday, December 30, 2011

Victoria, BC – The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre is extremely pleased to announce that they are currently installing a Retop Displays Inc. video screen system above the existing scoreboard at the arena.

With the Centre’s primary tenant, the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals, on Christmas break the decision was made to install the screen during this very tight time frame.

“Installing the screens over the Christmas break is an ambitious endeavour,” said Dave Dakers President of RG Sports & Entertainment and the Victoria Royals. “Waiting until the summer months would have given us the luxury of time, but our focus is to get the screens up and operational so Royals’ fans and Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre patrons can enjoy the benefits of this medium as soon as possible.

“We would like to thank the City of Victoria who has been 100% supportive in our pursuit of this project. Also a thank you to our staff that have worked tirelessly and have sacrificed their Christmas vacation in efforts to have the screens operational as soon as possible.”

The video board has eight screens in total. The main video boards are comprised of four LED screens that are 18 feet high by 10 feet wide, and they boast a resolution that is among the top in North American stadiums. In addition to the four main screens there are four secondary corner screens that will enhance and energize the visual experience. The eight total boards will create an octagon of screens that will sit above the current score clock in a halo style, and will be amongst the biggest screens in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL).

The Royals’ game day video production will be handled by SW Audio Visual. The production will include a full broadcast team of 14 people including cameramen, directors, slo-motion replay and graphics operators. The five-camera operation will make the production as high a caliber as any in the CHL.

VIDEO SCREEN FACTS AND FIGURES

- Four LED full motion screens that are 18 feet wide by 10 feet tall
- Each LED screen displays are composed of 6mm video elements each comprising a single 3-in-1 SMD LED package, displaying live HD video action, features and special production pieces in HD quality.
- Four screens
- Five camera operation
o Two centre ice cameras from media level
o Two cameras in the corners (one at each end)
o One camera in the box in between the player’s benches

[pontcanna]

Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre gets new video screens

BY MARIO ANNICCHIARICO, TIMESCOLONIST.COM DECEMBER 30, 2011 6:51 PM


Dave Dakers, president of RG Sports & Entertainment and the Royals stands in front of the main video boards that were being installed as part of a new system at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Dec. 30, 2011

Work was in full swing Friday at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, with the goal of having eight video-replay screens installed in time for Victoria Royals’ Western Hockey League game on Tuesday.

The Retop Displays Inc. system will be situated above the existing scoreboard. Four main LED screen boards are 18 feet wide by 10 feet high and four smaller screens are secured on angled corners, creating an octagon shape in a configuration that includes 144 monitors.

“It’s arrived and going up and it’s going to be a great addition to hockey and the Royals. We’re just hoping it works,” said Dave Dakers, president of RG Sports & Entertainment and the Royals. “Putting this in during a two-week period was a bit of a risk.”

The LED screen displays live, high-definition video action, features and special production pieces in HD quality. More than a dozen employees of SW Audio Visual will operate the game-day production, with wireless cameras capable of roaming the stands. Cameras will also be in place above centre ice and in the corners.

“Normally we would do this over the summer,” continued Dakers. “But we had the opportunity to get it in during Christmas. It’ll be up, whether it’s working will be the question. There’s a reasonable chance it will be working Tuesday, but it will probably be until the end of January before it’s functioning at 100 per cent because we haven’t had a lot of time to troubleshoot and test some of our video capabilities on it. Hopefully, the basics are working Tuesday.”

The organization had tested camera angles prior to the Christmas break.

Hockey fans will be the main benefactors of the new configuration, which is being described as a project expected to cost more than $500,000 but less than $1 million. The bill is being shared by RG Sports & Entertainment and the City of Victoria.

The system will not be used in concerts as most performers travel with their own video production equipment, but could be incorporated into self-produced events, said Dakers.

We see a lot of long-term success with the WHL and a little bit of investment up front to make it a better experience seems to make sense,” said Dakers, who added the city was 100 per cent supportive in the pursuit of the project.

Dakers himself is looking forward to enhancing the entertainment value of the product, rather than the slo-motion replay capabilities of the screens.

“I am not a proponent of replays,” he said with a laugh. “I like that people can argue about goals and talk about if for a week.

“In reality, what it does is add more excitement. At the end of the day it gives us something to work with in-between periods and whistles to get fans more into the game.”

[50sWHLer]

Great that we are finally getting a video score board here at the SOFMC. Just too bad we couldn’t have had it for our ECHL Salmon Kings.

It is important that the Victoria Royals, management, marketing team, and ticket promotion sales and marketing team, use the technology that is now available, using the video screen application, to get those new Hi-Tech fans, with their social media devices constantly in hand, more engaged in the game, and the venue.

Live events offer a captive audience where the only audience participation medium available to fans is the cell phone. With mobile promotions in Hockey arenas, you can immediately connect to thousands of passionate fans—live. The idea is to harness the excitement of the venue, develop a valuable database, and provide a new source of interest and resulting revenue.

Live event programs at a Victoria Royals hockey game could be successful by offering interesting contests that allow sponsors to send back mobile coupons for discounted Victoria Royals in-arena merchandise, or discounts on future Royals ticket sales. Fans could also download exclusive content like special order ringtones and wallpapers that can only be purchased at the event. You might even be able to chat with the Game 3 Stars. Yes, and even promote game discussions, about outstanding plays, etc, and yes, even ‘Game Officiating’

With live event mobile marketing, the entertainment starts even before the event does! The Victoria Royals can use the technology available to allow fans to text a message in prior to the start of the Game. The Fans send a text message “shout-out” to a short code. After review for content, the message is accepted and appears on the scoreboard video screen.
Technology is a great way to keep fans occupied and involved during pre-game and warm up, period intermissions, or other advertising/TV breaks. It also keeps the eyes of the fans on the scoreboard to enhance the message of the Victoria Royals’ advertisers.

In addition, the Royals could sell advertiser sponsorships of those text messages. This is a great way to make the advertiser’s message stand out to an on-site Victoria Royals captive audience.

The scoreboard has a multitude of potential applications for Victoria Royals fans from text message voting for the 3 Stars, Trivia games, or simply to choose the next song that will be played.

The best thing about having Victoria Royal fans participate in an interactive text message application is that you now have their cell phone number and their opt-in permission to send them broadcast text messages in the future. So, when you have tickets available for a last minute sale or you want to sell more merchandise, you can send a broadcast text message to your opt in abase and generate increased Seat sales. Seats that go unfilled get you nothing.

Using text messages to engage the Royals fans that are at the game is a great way to keep them involved and, if used properly, can help increase concession and ticket sales also. For example, if you seem to have people leaving early from your games, like we’ve seen during the recent ‘Blow Outs’, you can keep them in their seats by offering to show their message on the scoreboard. Everyone likes to see their name in lights, so if you have them text in a message during the 1st & 2nd periods, but tell them that it will show at the TV/ Advertising promotion Break near the end of the 3rd period, you will keep those folks in their seats until the end of the game. They will hang around just to see their message (especially if they have kids). Longer duration at the arena means more concession sales.

Additionally, due to the instantaneous receipt of text messages, the Royals could send out game day ticket specials. The costs for hosting a Hockey game are going to be the same whether they have three thousand or six thousand people in the SOFMC. If ticket sales are light on a Cold & Damp Tuesday night, they could run a ‘free tickets’, or a 50% Off, special that they blast out via text message. That may bring in an extra thousand or so people — which means that they have an extra thousand people looking to purchase hot dogs, sodas, and beer, not to mention Jerseys, hats, T-Shirts etc. Imagine the extra revenue that you could bring in with an instant special like that!!

How about a Fan’s ‘Fantasy Challenge’? The idea is to select one Victoria Royals forward and one Victoria Royals defenseman for each Royals game and accumulate the most points according to the scoring system to win Victoria Royals prizes. The Target audience here is the Tech-savvy sports fans, of which we have a multitude at Royals games, as can be seen by the high number of Hand Held devices seen. The strategy is to just engage the fan more, have them pay attention to the Game, and team more often and also tune in to our radio broadcasts to track their selected players if and when they are not able to attend a Game. This ‘Fantasy Challenge’ will need to be promoted via Web ads, TV and radio reads and commercials and in-game ads. To Vote, Royals fans are asked to text a key word ( Fantasy?) to the applicable Victoria Royals Text messaging number, similar to our current ability to Text, if there are inebriated, or unruly Fans near you affecting your enjoyment of the game.

The Victoria Royals mobile ‘Fantasy Challenge’ Fantasy will engage fans and give them the chance to win great prizes on a monthly or per season basis. The entire game is played by text message and there is a mobile web component, so fans can check the leader board, rules and their individual score and check their ranking.

The development and incorporation of these, or similar programs, will lead to more Victoria Royals Mobile Club subscriptions, higher attendance and Team interest within the City, and possibly even promote corporate sponsorship of either the game or the entire mobile initiative.
Initially, and to get the program started, ‘effective’ Game Night PA announcements, before the game, between periods, as well during the Games would serve to encourage those with hand held devices to follow the actual game they are attending, and the associated in house applications, with their mobile device.

The objective of any Sports Marketing Team is to continually look for opportunities to engage the fan and raise affinity to highest level possible.

It’s time for the Victoria Royals to lead the way in the WHL, and develop and incorporate news ways to get the ‘Tech Savvy’ Fans more engaged in the Game, and in the Venue itself.

[pontcanna]

I like a lot of your ideas. Do you know of teams in this (or any other) sport using social media in this way before/during/after games?

[50sWHLer]

Yes poncanna, in fact, there are at least three professional teams using this type social media promotion currently, to not only get Fans involved, but also to develop new avenues for advertisers, and improve their Team marketing plan. They are the Chicago Black Hawks, the Washigton Capitals, and the Pittsburg Steelers. However I'm not aware of any Junior Clubs that do, BUT, hey why can't the Victoria Capitals set the Bar to new heights in Junior Hockey? It will be interesting to see if they really use the Digital Score Board and it's enourmous potential to tap into this vast promotial and marketing opportunity.

[CdnSailor]

the Victoria Capitals.

Errr..... you mean the Royals don't you

[50sWHLer]

Yup, cdnsailor, you're right !! The Royals, not the Capitals !!

Just had a 'Senior moment' !! --- The Victoria Capitals was my name choice for our WHL Junior team, and it just jumped out onto the keyboard.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all site members. Have a Healthy, Safe, and prosperous 2012

[CdnSailor]

http://youtu.be/dKCIB8cgD9A

[the Royal Flush]

the screens made the event just that much better...good job RG!

[50sWHLer]

Yah, Good Job RG --- Just TOO BAD that is is 5 YEARS TOO LATE !!!