In case you missed it, Michigan has torn down the old scoreboards at the Big House, originally built in 1998, and will be installing new scoreboards that include 4,000 square foot LED displays, approximately 40% larger than the current boards. 11 months ago, Athletic Director Dave Brandon told us all:
"The reality is those scoreboards are old. They're old technology and they're old. I've already looked at sketches as to what that might look at and one of the scenarios could add a few seats."
Now he's making good on that promise with the new scoreboards set to take 6th place nationally in pure scoreboard size. Here is a picture of Tennessee and Florida's scoreboards respectively for comparison sake:
Tennessee:
Florida:
What you will immediately notice is that a good portion of the Florida scoreboard is taken up by stats, the actual score, and advertisements. Presumably (please, Mr. Brandon?) the Michigan version will not include ads, so that's a positive. However, just because the new scoreboards are 40% larger than the old ones doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to be treated to enormous replays. However, without the advertisements, Michigan will have a beautiful scoreboard that is likely to have the most square footage dedicated to actual football information, instead of a combination of ads.