
Old Dominion University Undergoes Massive Overhaul of S.B. Ballard Stadium The $67.5 million project wrapped up just before the first home game By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Thursday, September 19, 2019 - 1:21 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
With years of planning, fundraising, and construction in the rearview mirror, the Old Dominion Monarchs have finally opened the doors to their new football kingdom. Formerly known as Foreman Field, Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium underwent a $67.5 million revamp that pushed the seat total to 22,480, the west side of the structure to a 94 ft., and the crown jewel, erected a privately funded video board in the corner of the north end zone.
We also added ribbon boards on both East and West sides [of the stadium] that we didn't have before as well as on top of our suite building in the end zone, says Tina Price, associate athletic director, Old Dominion. We were down to the wire, but we took an 18-month construction project and turned it over in nine months.
Old Dominion received private funding to establish the 31 ft. by 51.5 ft. video board.
Controlling Video in Kornblau: Daktronics Takes the Lead on LED Installation
The 31 ft. by 51.5 ft. monolith with 10mm line spacing (a similar structure being used by the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium) will allow the video production team to project functions that used to not be possible. When the demolition of the old Foreman Field started on Nov. 19, 2018, Old Dominion gave a call to Daktronics to install the structure that runs more efficiently and is much bigger than what used to live inside the stadium
The old board had a lot of static signs, so we ripped all that down and replaced it with all LEDs, says Dwayne Smith, assistant director, classroom and learning space technologies, Old Dominion. [The relationship with Daktronics] has been wonderful. We couldn't have done [this project] without them.
As for the previously mentioned ribbon boards, two ribbon boards will run as long as 300 ft. and the one on top of the building will be 125-ft. long. All three ribbon boards will be 3.5-ft. high and have a 15HD pixel layout. With a mix of the main video board and these different ribbon boards, the philosophy of how they use video has started to change.
We can be more flexible with our graphics, our design, and what we put out there. The big thing we were trying to focus on is giving our fans that same experience they get at home when they watch a game. From our perspective, we have the opportunity to provide fans with a live game environment that they are more accustomed to. [For example], our replays are sharper, we can pull the score out when we're doing some really big sponsorship messaging, and we can put out-of-town scores on the board says Smith. [The setup] makes [our production] more versatile and what we do on the board can grow with ODU and the [overarching] style of the industry.
Do It While You Can: Venue Project Ushers in Full-Campus Connectivity
Eighteen athletic teams are put through their paces throughout the 251-acre campus in six other sporting venues (Bud Metheny Baseball Complex, Soccer Complex, Chartway Arena at The Ted Constant Convocation Center, Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center, Swimming and Diving Facility, and L.R. Hill Sports Complex). With multiple construction cranes, lifts, and bulldozers galore, the timing seemed right to complete a burdensome but necessary task for the sake of capturing the accomplishments of every student-athlete.
We established a video connection back to our central control room in the Jim Jarrett Athletic Administration Building, says Price. That was a big new part of our program that was really important. It was really the final piece in bringing all of our athletic venues [together] for video streaming.
Along with the video board, ODU installed new field turf and 2,362 more seats.
Back in the athletic administration building, the gameday staff on the university-side runs about 12 to 15 individuals deep to produce the gameday video board show in S.B. Ballard Stadium. The control room can become a bit packed, as the ESPN team of six people controlling the live stream utilize the same cameras that power the big screen.
For Price and Paul Briggs, director of video services, Old Dominion, the production team is relying on a NewTek TriCaster TC1 production system as the anchor. Also from NewTek, the 3Play 4800 is running point for instant replay and in-show highlights. Scoreboard animations, as well as player headshots, are being created via Adobe Premiere Pro 2019 and After Effects.
Forging the Next 10 Years and Beyond of ODU Football
Unlike many Division I teams, Old Dominion is still living in its infancy. After a move to the FCS in 2011, they joined the FBS' Conference USA in 2014. Last season, the Monarchs took a bludgeon to the college football Top 25 rankings after an upset victory over then-No. 13 Virginia Tech at home. Coupled with their new domain, the institution is poised for success as it continues to grow as a program.
We've only had football for 10 years here at Old Dominion, concludes Price. This video board takes [our operations] to the next level and to the top of our conference as one of the best facilities.
Old Dominion hosts East Carolina University in their second game at the new Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium next week on Saturday, September 28 at 6 p.m. ET.
North America Stories
13/11/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Field & Stream and Outdoor America have formed a strategic partnership to launch Field & Stream TV, rebranding Outdoor America's free ad-su...
13/11/2025
PHOENIX, Ariz. Silicondust has announced it is now an ATSC 3.0 Certificate Authority for NextGen TV and said that it is offering an Online Certificate Status Pr...
13/11/2025
NEW YORK Nielsen has announced that Peter Naylor, an ad sales executive who has worked at some of the largest media companies in the world, will be its first ch...
13/11/2025
PHILADELPHIA After more than 20 years of at CBS Philadelphia and an award-winning career spanning nearly four decades, Jim Donovan, anchor of CBS News Philadelp...
13/11/2025
BOSTON Frontline, PBS's investigative documentary series produced at GBH in Boston, has announced the newest class of partners for its Local Journalism Init...
13/11/2025
A groundbreaking new study by the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has found serious problems with news summaries generated by AI assistants....
12/11/2025
SVG TranSPORT 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAYEvent addressed the latest in live sports video contribution and distribution technologyBy SV...
12/11/2025
L-R: Ed Harris, Gyula Gazdag
Inaugural Robert Redford Luminary Award to Honor E...
12/11/2025
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
12/11/2025
ALAMEDA, Calif. Clear-Com says its communications gear was recently deployed for the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Race at Germany's N rburgring circuit, which set a rec...
12/11/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that it has joined the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Accelerate Program (ISV). This acceptance f...
12/11/2025
HUELVA, Spain Alfalite, Europe's only LED screen manufacturer, has announced a strategic partnership with Adistec Corp, a leading distributor of infrastruct...
12/11/2025
MONTREAL Stingray Group Inc. has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire TuneIn Holdings, Inc. ( 'TuneIn''), a pioneer ...
12/11/2025
Vubiquity, an Amdocs company and global leader in technology-led media services, today announced it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertain...
12/11/2025
NEW YORK and WASHINGTON DirecTV Advertising has launched DirecTV Elect, a new digital platform powered by AI that is specifically designed for political adverti...
12/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has weighed in on the blackout of ABC, ESPN and other Disney programming on YouTube TV with a po...
12/11/2025
Back to All News
The Accident 2 Welcomes B rbara de Regil to the Cast and Premi...
12/11/2025
In the age of AI reasoning, training smarter, more capable models is critical to scaling intelligence. Delivering the massive performance to meet this new age r...
12/11/2025
Large language model (LLM)-based AI assistants are powerful productivity tools, but without the right context and information, they can struggle to provide nuan...
11/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: How Pixellot's Automated-Production-Tech Stack Is Evolving in ...
11/11/2025
Introducing SVG's New Platinum White Papers' PlatformTop technology providers detail how they are innovating in sports productionBy SVG Staff
Tuesday...
11/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Vanessa Lindsey, Senior Director, Technical and Remote Operations...
11/11/2025
Lesson Plan: How Big Ten Network's StudentU Produces Broadcast Pros - and 2,...
11/11/2025
Peacock Performance View Feature Now Available for All NBA Games on PeacockBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - 2:10 pm
P...
11/11/2025
Rural connectivity rising fast
Traditional media still matters
Rural Filipinos...
11/11/2025
Wohler has said it has added three Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) connections to its new iVAM2-MPEG monitor....
11/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, recently hosted an exclusive event in Los Angeles to celebrate the soft launch of...
11/11/2025
NAKIVO Inc., a fast-growing software company specialising in data protection and disaster recovery solutions for virtual, physical, cloud, and SaaS environments...
11/11/2025
Amagi, a cloud-based SaaS technology solutions provider for broadcast and streaming TV, today announced that Kogan Australia, one of the country's leading e...
11/11/2025
The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company (SRR) has commissioned a new state-of-the-art radio production and broadcast facility centred on a DHD RX2 and TX2 conso...
11/11/2025
Alfalite, Europe's only LED screen manufacturer, has announced a strategic partnership with Adistec Corp, a leading value-added distributor of infrastructur...
11/11/2025
Delivering dedicated remote production facilities across a range of live sports for a growing roster of broadcast clients, the Cymru Broadcast Centre (CBC) at W...
11/11/2025
NEW YORK AccuWeather has announced a multi-year deal with MS Now to provide weather forecasts, content, data, and access to its expert meteorologists to the net...
11/11/2025
NEW YORK Ookla has introduced Speedtest Pulse, a new network diagnostic device designed to provide definitive, smartphone-based validation and troubleshooting f...
11/11/2025
In a rollout that will further heighten the competition between streaming services and local broadcasters, Prime Video is rolling out location-based interactive...
11/11/2025
Back to All News
Pride Collides and Bodies Move as One in 10DANCE' Main Tr...
11/11/2025
Back to All News
The Fourth Season of Alpha Males Arrives on Netflix on January 9
Entertainment
11 November 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Toge...
10/11/2025
New frontier: Extreme H's Ali Russell on the evolution of motorsport from el...
10/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: How the XR Sports Alliance Makes XR Easier Than Ever for Rightshol...
10/11/2025
FutureSPORT 2025: F1's Wendy Hendrickx on putting fans at the heart of the a...
10/11/2025
Paul Tagliabue, Former NFL Commissioner, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer, Dies...
10/11/2025
Act Now! SVG Summit Complimentary Registration Closes on Dec. 9 Don't miss out on the biggest event of the year in sports production By SVG Staff
Monday...
10/11/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Jerry Jones, Visionary of ValueDave Barron, SVG Contributor
Monday, November 10, 2025 - 2:30 pm
Print This Story | S...
10/11/2025
(L-R) Kali Reis, Josh O'Connor, and Max Walker-Silverman attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Rebuilding at Eccles Theatre on January 26, 20...
10/11/2025
NEW YORK Nielsen said it has started releasing rankings of the most-watched college football teams. In its first ranking, through the first 10 weeks of the seas...
10/11/2025
LONDON Viewers who remember a time before YouTube existed are the biggest consumers of the platform's movies and TV shows, according to a new report from Am...
10/11/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, has announced a series of updates to its Lightware Academy courses, including the launch of a new Taurus Roo...
10/11/2025
Back to All News
The Elixir' Brings Indonesian Zombies to the World
Entertainment
10 November 2025
GlobalIndonesia
Link copied to clipboard
The Elix...
10/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix ISP Speed Index for October 2025
Product
10 November 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
This month, 1% of Internet Service Prov...
10/11/2025
Back to All News
Love Is Blind: Italy - Now Available the Trailer for the Itali...