
Snapdragon Stadium Is Shiny New Home for San Diego State University Athletics, NWSL's San Diego Wave In past five seasons, SDSU's Aztecs played in San Diego Stadium, Dignity Health Sports Park By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor
Wednesday, November 23, 2022 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
San Diego might not pop up in a discussion of large media markets, but, at the collegiate level, the city boasts one of the newest football stadiums in the U.S. At just over three months old, Snapdragon Stadium, the $310 million permanent home of San Diego State University (SDSU) Athletics, is providing a stellar fan experience for a community that's passionate about sports.
I think [the Aztecs] are thrilled to have a place to call home and create an experience that's 100% their own, says Brian Smith, director, operations, Snapdragon Stadium, Oak View Group, which manages the venue. They can now come in and develop a show that they want without someone telling them they can't do something.
Amongst the Bricks: Crew Overcomes Challenges Throughout Construction A little over two years after the groundbreaking, Smith joined the project in November 2021. Having served as director, events, during LAFC's first season at Banc of California Stadium in 2018, among other positions, he offered in-venue production experience tailor-made for the SDSU project. New builds always pose multiple challenges, but, with the stadium inaccessible until a month and a half before the first football game (vs. University of Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 3), Smith was particularly integral to navigating this phase. During construction, Oak View Group and SDSU relied on the partners chosen for the job, particularly Clair Global Integration for equipment procurement and installation and AmpThink for networking.
A mix of professional freelancers and SDSU students work productions in the control room.
When the workload of technologies became heavier in April and May, [Oak View Group A/V Broadcast Manager Ceci Becerra] and I sat down to plan out the venue, says Smith. Some of the areas that we discussed were the modifications that were needed, what training needed to be done, and what systems needed to be worked on.
Besides figuring out the necessary adjustments on the tech side, Becerra was tasked with recruiting freelancers who had worked at Dodgers Stadium, SoFi Stadium, and other sports venues throughout Southern California and pairing them with students working on games inside the control room. To bring the recruits up to speed, the department relied on Ross Video for training on the Ross-powered production tools deployed. Getting the crew acclimated to the new space was pivotal, and, although the team successfully grasped these workflows, these lessons were done amid unforeseen changes to construction.
Timelines shifted constantly, Smith explains. Working within a post-COVID world, we've dealt with the ongoing supply-chain crisis, so we secured more than one set of pieces from different places and saw which one came first. Today, there are still some things that we'll eventually replace with more of what is in line with what we were looking for.
In-Venue Arsenal: Control-Room Technologies, 7.5 Million Pixels of LED Heading into the Aztecs' first full season in Snapdragon Stadium, the in-venue production crew is armed with some of the industry's newest technologies. Inside the control room near the top of the building, Ross Video has a heavy presence throughout the back-of-house infrastructure. Driving each show are a Carbonite production switcher, Mira replay stations, XPression graphics for real-time and engaging visuals, and an Ultrix router. Other notables in the space are ClearCom for seamless communication, a Yamaha QL5 audio console, and Daktronics' Show Control system software that drive the LED displays throughout the stadium. Equipment in the control room is also managing the Tripleplay IPTV system in the concourse, suite level, and general areas.
Ross Video has a heavy presence at Snapdragon Stadium, including a Carbonite production switcher.
Outside of the control room, fans at Snapdragon Stadium are treated to an exciting in-venue show featuring 19 Daktronics LED video displays at 10-mm pixel spacing. Totaling 8,400 sq. ft. and 7.5 million pixels, several fixtures anchor each production, including a 42-ft-high by 73-ft.-wide main display at 3,000 sq. ft. and a 26.5-ft.-high by 50.5-ft.-wide structure in the opposite corner.
The LEDs provide real-time stats and pre-produced content, along with social-media-generated material through a partnership with Tagboard. For sponsorship opportunities and activations, two large ribbon displays - one measuring 2.5 ft. high by 420 ft. long, the other 2.5 ft. high by 400 ft. long - are mounted to the seating fascia. In addition, 14 ribbon boards offer advertising-partner messaging: nine at 2.5 ft. high and a total of 290 linear ft., five at 6 ft. high and a total of 167 linear ft. On the building's exterior, a 13-ft.-high by 23-ft.-wide marquee display welcomes fans.
A 42-ft.-high by 73-ft.-wide video display with 3,000 sq. ft. of LED is the main video attraction at Snapdragon Stadium.
Besides SDSU football, the marketing department is responsible not only for men's and women's soccer and other programs but also for providing entertainment for the National Women's Soccer League's (NWSL) San Diego Wave. Headlined by U.S. Women's National Team standouts Alex Morgan and Abby Dahlkemper, the first-year franchise made it all the way to the NWSL Semifinal vs. eventual champion Portland Thorns. The club's inaugural season was played mostly in the University of San Diego's Torero Stadium - less than 10 miles from Snapdragon Stadium - before moving to their new digs
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
29/04/2026
It was a delicate job in a 150-year-old venue laden with traditions. Begun at th...
29/04/2026
In annual event, the league gives startup companies the opportunity to prove the...
29/04/2026
Panel discussions, networking, and a facility tour will take place in the renova...
29/04/2026
(L-R) Derek Drescher, Coss Marte, and Syretta Wright have each other's backs. (Micheal Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
By Veronika Lee Cla...
29/04/2026
Combines EQ and harmonic distortion
Techivation's latest release is a simple EQ designed to offer quick control over a source's overall tonal balanc...
29/04/2026
Two new MPE controllers announced
Expressive E caused quite a stir when they released the Osmose, making the sort of expression that was once reserved for p...
29/04/2026
New modules & enhanced machine-learning
The latest version of iZotope's flagship restoration suite is now available, and now offers over 50 tools design...
29/04/2026
Surgeon Dr Jasmina Kevric wins 2026 Les Murray Award
29 April, 2026
Media releases
Australia for UNHCR and SBS are proud to announce that Dr Jasmina Kevric...
29/04/2026
Some people stumble into their passion. Julissa Padilla walked straight into a film vault. For her, entertainment was never just about the movies themselves. It...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live, expanding their ...
29/04/2026
nxtedition is bringing its range of consolidated production tools to MPTS 2026, with new developments spanning transcription, editing, graphics and AI-assisted ...
29/04/2026
Quortex Switch to boost the streaming experience for Telxius customers, reaching millions of viewers worldwide
Synamedia and Telxius, the leading global connec...
29/04/2026
freispace, the leading ERP-as-a-Service platform for media and entertainment production, and Projective, a leading provider of post-production collaboration tec...
29/04/2026
DHD reports strong interest in its broadcast audio product range, exhibited at the April 19th-22nd NAB Show in Las Vegas. The event attracted a claimed 58,000 a...
29/04/2026
Student Spotlight: Alan Catz The Argentine film and game composer talks about working on League of Legends, receiving Berklee's BMI Award, and the lifelon...
29/04/2026
Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen The supervising sound designer behind A Minecraft Movie, The Meg, Letters from Iwo Jima, and dozens of other...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
29 Apr 2026
VEON and Kyivstar Fulfill Commitment to Invest USD 1 Billion in Ukr...
29/04/2026
Rhod Gilbert, Harriet Kemsley, Kae Kurd, Sara Pascoe and Vicki Pattison to take part in brand new series on free streaming service U
London, 29th April 2026: F...
29/04/2026
Wednesday 29 April 2026
Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentar...
29/04/2026
Re-examining the case of Ellie Williams and the wider story of grooming in the town of BarrowWednesday 29 April 2026
Sky announces upcoming documentary series ...
29/04/2026
Wednesday 29 April 2026
Jennifer Garner to lead an all-star cast in new Sky Exc...
29/04/2026
Back to All News
SUPERNOVA: GENESIS Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Mi...
29/04/2026
Students and staff from Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge ran a 4.5km course around the roads of Cambridge as part of their annual programme of sustain...
29/04/2026
The Dawn Chorus airs Sunday 3 May from midnight to 7am on RT Radio 1 and RT ly...
29/04/2026
Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences Yu is recognized for his pioneering work in synthetic organic chemistry.
April 28, 2026
LA JOLLA, CA S...
28/04/2026
The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast
Last week's...
28/04/2026
The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...
28/04/2026
The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...
28/04/2026
Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...
28/04/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...
28/04/2026
Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...
28/04/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...
28/04/2026
Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...
28/04/2026
Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...
28/04/2026
The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...
28/04/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...
28/04/2026
The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...
28/04/2026
Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...
28/04/2026
Today, we announced our First Quarter 2026 earnings, starting the Year of Raising Ambition with strong momentum across the business and continued innovation acr...