The Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation voted to approve enlarging the Reliant Stadium video display boards on Wednesday, making them the largest in Texas and the widest display in professional sports.
"Our game experience is consistently rated as one of the finest in the world and these spectacular video boards will help us elevate to an even higher level of performance for our fans," said Houston Texans President Jamey Rootes. "Starting next season, the energy, excitement and entertainment we deliver for each home game at Reliant Stadium will be matched with exclusive video content, real-time information and event enhancements to provide an even better experience for our large and loyal fan base."
Construction on the video boards is projected to begin after the current season and be completed by Aug. 1, 2013. Manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric's Diamond Vision Systems Division, they will have an image area of 52.49 by 277.17 feet, totaling 14,549 square feet of display surface and weighing in at more than 100 tons each.
Rootes believes the installation of the new and improved video display boards will better Houston's chances of hosting the Super Bowl at Reliant Stadium in 2017.
"An integral component is the Super Bowl bid," Rootes said. "Their question is, 'What is the experience going to be like? The game experience for the fans when they're there for the Super Bowl?' When you show that picture and it is the largest stadium installation, 25 percent larger than what they've seen before, you can't help but think that will be exciting for the fans."
CEO of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Leroy Shafer is anticipating the renovation with much excitement. He not only sees the project as benefiting football fans, but people that attend the variety of events held at Reliant Stadium, as well.
"It's a big deal because it keeps Reliant state of the art," he said. "When we built Reliant Stadium everybody looked at it and said, 'Wow, there's nothing like this in professional football.' We came to the end of the life of this board and we looked at it and said 'OK, we can just replace that up there but let's see what we can do to make it the best, let's see what we can do to make it the biggest out there in the NFL, for the Rodeo, or whatever we may bring into Reliant Stadium.'"
Other recent notable Diamond Vision installations include the Dallas Cowboys (Cowboy Stadium), New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium), Green Bay Packers (Lambeau Field), Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park), and Seattle Seahawks (Century Link Field).
