The new scoreboard goes up at Air Canada Centre, featuring a maple leaf as the centerpiece. (Photo by Light Imaging)
The first $10 million of the $100 million in improvements at Air Canada Centre, Toronto, went to purchase and installation of a new scoreboard, which will be a signature piece for the NBA and NHL arena.
Beyond that, over the next three to five years, the arena will be replacing premium seats, installing new seats in the bowl and replacing the last of the backlit signage so that the concourses are fully digital, up from the current 80 percent, said Wayne Zronick, VP of facilities and entertainment for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
The goal is to prepare the 16-year-old arena for the next 20 years, Zronik said.
Jim Steele, MLSE director of live production and venue technology, described the new scoreboard as part of a technical revamp of the bowl. Panasonic Enterprise Solutions is installer of the technology and AJP out of Virginia are the consultants, he said.
The center-hung video board consists of four equal-sided screens measuring 32 ft. by 18.5 ft. each, four times larger than the previous board. It’s topped and bottomed with message rings, 50 ft. square on top and 45 ft. square on the bottom.
But it’s not size alone that sets this scoreboard apart.
“We’re adding a structural element in the center of the clock,” Steele said. It’s an iconic sculpture of a maple leaf, stylized to be different than the Toronto Maple Leaf team symbol. Open in design from above, below and through the corners, the maple leaf can be seen in the middle of the scoreboard, at the heart of the matter.
The sculpture is a four-sided, crossing outline that is like a backlit sign, with multicolored LED making it possible to change the color of the leaf profile. “We’ll use it as a walk-in element during patron load, and during goal celebrations and significant milestones in the game as would be permitted by league rules.”
Air Canada Centre’s new scoreboard will be “among the largest of four-sided examples in arenas in North America,” Steele said, stopping short of claiming a record because the design is different from many arenas. “Some have a boxcar design [including arenas in Cleveland, Indianapolis and Tampa Bay, Fla.], with two sides quite large, two sides small that face the ends of arenas.
Installing the new scoreboard required quite a bit of steel in the roofing structure and a new hoist, all included in the $10-million price tag, along with consulting and electrical engineering.
MLSE is also installing video walls on the backsides of its overhanging gondolas, which act as seating for media and group sales, located on either side of the arena. “Because the gondolas suspend over our upper bowl seating, those patrons in the back row would not see all of our new scoreboards so they wouldn’t see replays in the way they’ve been accustomed to in the past,” Steele continued. Installation began in July and will be complete by Sept. 21.
They are particularly excited about the maple leaf sculpture, which Zronik thinks will become a trend in the league. The only comparable scoreboard centerpiece he was aware of is the exploding orange on the scoreboard at Amway Center in Orlando. “The maple leaf supports our brands and everything is done for those enhancements and improvements.”
Zronik said MLSE executives will spend the next six to 12 months going through a process in relation to their vision for the building to map out the additional $90 million in improvements. A focal point of timing is the 100th anniversary of the Toronto Maple Leafs team, which takes place in 2017.
Interviewed for this story: Wayne Zronik and Jim Steele, (416) 815-5455