Three Things to Know When Buying Outdoor Stadium Digital Signage

Stadium digital signage is typically used to communicate information to large numbers of people within the facility and may also be used to attract people outside of the stadium, enticing them to come inside. Just like with any other type of location, your needs for sports field digital signage can be unique. So, to make the right decision and get the maximum impact of your signage, consider your specific space, intended usages, and any unusual requirements.

To help, here are three overall things to consider.

#1 Indoors, Outdoors—or Somewhere In Between

Some stadiums are fully indoors while others have dome features that allow them to close and thereby create a roof—usually to protect people and the fields from bad weather or extreme temperatures. Other stadiums are fully outdoors, exposed to wind, rain, sleet, and snow (but, even without a roof, there are still issues to consider when choosing outdoor LED displays, such as their size and placement). Still other stadiums are outdoors without solid walls but with some sort of roof overhang to provide protected space for attendees. No matter what your stadium is like, it will be important to factor in the size and weather exposure of your location when choosing your sign.

#2 Sign Location and Purpose

Some stadium digital signage is intended to be placed on the outside of the building to attract fans and guide them to the right location. Those outdoor LED displays are typically quite large, designed to be seen from a distance; because of their fully outdoor location, their ability to withstand tough weather conditions is a key consideration.

When thinking about sports field digital signage, displays that provide information about the game in progress and engage with fans is often the kind thought of first. For example, with baseball field digital signage, this is where fans can quickly and easily see who is pitching and playing the other positions, the pitcher’s earned run average (ERA); which team is up to bat and who, specifically, is at the plate, what their batting average is, and their performance so far in the game; the inning; the number of balls and strikes thrown to the player up to bat; the score; and so forth.

Although the same hardware and software can be used for baseball field digital signage and football field digital signage, the information displayed will be different. In a football game, fans will want to know who is currently playing for the offense or defense for each team as well as the score, the down, the yardage to go until the next down is reached, and so forth. The football field digital signage may also include player stats, especially if they are significant.

As a third possibility, sports field digital signage may be needed for a track and field course. For races, you can share who is running in what lane; who they represent (a school, for example, or a geographical location); keep track of lap numbers for longer races; display finish times; and so forth. You can list team rankings, records broken and set, and more. For non-running events, you can share heights or distances jumped, shot put lengths and more.

List words to songs that fans might sing—from the National Anthem to a high school fight song to ones for the seventh inning stretch. Put up interesting facts about the teams playing or ask trivia questions and, a bit later, provide the correct answers.

These sports field digital signage displays may also be used to promote what food, drink, merchandise items are available for sale. Additional signs can be placed in the locations of concession stands as well, sharing what items are for sale, their prices, and so forth.

The large signs on the field can also promote upcoming events and promote your brand. They can also be used to share advertising sold to other businesses that your fans might be interested in seeing. Or, you can cross-promote your services with another stadium or venue in exchange for promoting theirs in a barter arrangement.

Other signage can provide public service announcements, including emergency broadcasts, in strategic places in your stadium. Even if those messages appear on your main sports field digital signage, not all attendees will be where they can be seen. People standing in line for concessions or restrooms, for example, may be in such a location.

When deciding sign placement for baseball field digital signage, football field digital signage, or ones related to another sport, place them where wayfinding information can be included. Although an exceptionally small stadium may not have significant need for directions to exits, concessions, restroom facilities, and the like, fans will appreciate guidance in most stadium facilities.

There are plenty of benefits to using stadium digital signage. Perhaps most notably, the more that fans can engage with their favorite teams, the more they are likely to return, purchase gear, and otherwise support their team. Another key benefit: when you direct traffic in and around the stadium, you’re protecting the safety of people in the venue and in the surrounding areas.

#3 Product Features and Benefits

As you can see from descriptions in number two, stadium digital signage can be quite versatile, customized for your unique needs. Brainstorm what your fans, players, and coaches need, and there are solutions to provide that. Besides choosing the right hardware, MDM can provide you with the content creation tools and convenient templates that allow you to personalize your messaging. To save you time, we also provide content and graphics creation services where we’ll bring your vision to life without adding more work to your in-house team.

Besides being customized, you can make content changes in just a matter of seconds. This is crucial when broadcasting info about sports games, ones in which even a fraction of a second matters: in who crosses the finish line first, how much time is left on the football clock during the big game, and whether the runner was safe or out at home plate.

You can seamlessly go from providing game coverage to announcing the winner of a big drawing; post weather alerts; or share scores from another big game that will have a significant impact on the one being played. For high school stadiums, you can provide a list of the names of the homecoming court or otherwise share school news to celebrate.

Outdoor LED displays make information easy to see and digest. Sign sizes can be quite significant with high visibility with far more of a seamless operation than when people needed to make time-consuming manual changes. Information is real time, giving fans the latest news about their sports team’s performances in a single glance. So, fans get more satisfactory information about scores and more without your organization needing to pay ongoing personnel costs—and satisfied fans are far more likely to be returning fans.

Plus, there are times when rapidly changing, real time information is vital for the safety of people in the stadium—and sports field digital signage is ideal for broadcasting emergency information and sharing ways to most safely deal with the situation.

Although perhaps not as urgent, it can surely feel that way when fans need directions to restroom facilities, concession stands for a fresh snack and drink, or ticket sale windows when sales are newly opened for tickets to the big game.

Add new sources of revenue to your organization by selling interactive digital advertisements. You can rotate promoting your own brand, events, and products with ads that bring in a revenue stream. In-house products that you can promote include food, drinks, team merchandise, ticket sales, and more.

Interactive advertising can capture a fan’s attention more easily than static ones that don’t change from moment to moment, game to game. The change in content can cause a viewer to look up and engage with new information, and you can easily transition content in real time on outdoor stadium visual signage.

MDM Commercial for Your Stadium Digital Signage

When you’re in need of highly effective and engaging outdoor LED displays, you can count on MDM. We provide today’s best options, including the most in-demand hardware and software. Customizable to your specific needs, our expert team offers seamless installation and integration so you can get your messaging in front of your fans, ASAP. If you’d like help with your content and graphics creation, just let us know—and we also offer ongoing support.

MDM has deep industry connections and product lines. You’ll benefit from competitive pricing because of our bulk buying power and, if you don’t see what you need on our website, just let us know. We’re continually adding to our product line and have the ability to source stadium digital signage displays of interest.

To discuss what you need, just contact us online or call 800-359-6741. We can listen to what you want and then recommend precisely the products and services that dovetail with your requirements, timelines, and budget.