Green Bay Packers Modernize In-Venue Show at Lambeau Field With New 4K HDR Videoboards

BeckTV, WJHW were major contributors to the project

Fans of the Green Bay Packers are enjoying an entirely new game-day experience at Lambeau Field this season. During the offseason, Tundra Vision, the club’s in-venue production department, worked hard to bring online four new LED displays — two 4K HDR-capable main displays measuring 48 ft. high by nearly 220 ft. wide and two 7-ft.-high by 74.5-ft.-wide auxiliary scoreboards — and a new SMPTE 2110 control room prior to the start of the new campaign.

“There’s an excitement about bringing new technology and more content to our fans,” says Kregg Shilbauer, director, broadcast and game presentation, Green Bay Packers. “We’re all happy with how it’s coming together and how [the videoboards are operating] from a game-presentation standpoint.”

Retrofitting an Icon: The Project Balanced Modernity and Tradition

For more than six decades, Lambeau Field has been a fixture in the city of Green Bay. Hosting some of the most memorable contests as well as some of the most iconic players in the history of professional football, the stadium has a reputation as a daunting place for opposing teams, particularly with its freezing temperatures in the winter months. Lambeau Field has become the physical embodiment of the game. Updating an icon revered by fans and the league required a delicate balance in maintaining its traditional integrity while integrating new technologies.

One of the two 4K HDR-capable main displays installed at Lambeau Field this offseason

“The most interesting aspect of this project is working within this historic venue and bucket-list destination,” says Shilbauer. “There was this needle that we had to thread, so we did certain things intentionally to make them look like they belong to Lambeau Field. Although we’re keeping up with technology, we wanted it to appear as if [these new LED displays] were here for years.”

The project was spearheaded by President/CEO Mark Murphy. With guidance from VP, Marketing and Fan Engagement, Gabrielle Valdez Dow, Shilbauer worked with Manager, Game Day Productions, Matt Arvin on content and Director, Facility Operations, Mike Moynihan on structural needs. A handful of corporate partners were recruited: WJHW provided consulting and design for the various projects. BeckTV for systems integration of the video production system, Daktronics for the LEDs, and New Era Technology for audio. Day to day, Shilbauer and Arvin worked with Beck TV VP, Business Development/Senior Engineer Matt Weiss; WJHW Principal Charles Adkinson; Daktronics Project Manager Brock Wallen; and New Era Technology Project Manager Chris Gordon.

“We leaned heavily on our partners to make [our infrastructure] better than when we got here but also not wanting to take away from what Lambeau Field is,” says Shilbauer. “Our mission statement from the beginning was to carry this vision out.”

Putting the Puzzle Together: Supply Chain, Upgrade to 4K HDR Pose Significant Challenges

Ross Video’s Rocket Surgery helped develop new graphics for the videoboard.

With a clear vision in place, the team’s next step was to navigate the numerous challenges. On the logistics side, because of the ongoing effects of pandemic-related supply-chain delays in late 2022, the crew was forced to acquire different hardware and software.

“We had to make some changes to our core power structure where a lot of our equipment is,” says Shilbauer. “We were getting close to the end of the season and had to make the call of whether we could do this project or not. There were a lot of sleepless nights in October and November.”

Luckily, the team’s proactiveness helped it dodge potential issues. “We foresaw some of these challenges on the tech side,” says Arvin. “Once we started and the core was well-established, we were able to continue with the technical gear and the new upgrades.”

Two 7-ft. by 74.5-ft. auxiliary scoreboards also were installed at Lambeau Field.

The decision to implement two future-proof workflows — 4K HDR and SMPTE 2110 — added another challenge. Because the new videoboard is one of the few 4K displays in the NFL, the crew spent the offseason getting up to speed on its operation.

“We had to work through a lot of the file-transferring that comes with going from SDR to HDR,” Shilbauer explains. “This building wasn’t necessarily built to do 34-camera broadcasts on the national networks, along with a giant videoboard show, so we also added more camera capabilities. Finding camera positions can be a bit of a struggle, so we leaned on a lot of PTZ cameras and cameras that didn’t require a body and could be mounted upside down on a beam to get the shot we’re looking for.”

Trusted Partner: Ross Video Powers Control-Room Workflows

The control room houses a hefty number of Ross Video workflows. The company’s involvement in the project stemmed from a relationship dating to the installation of Mosaic in August 2020. When Ross Video was brought onto the project, there was a constant line of communication.

The videoboard’s national debut was on Thursday Night Football vs. the Detroit Lions on Sept. 28.

Says Andrew Lahey, manager, solution specialists, global sports and live events, Ross Video, “It’s always a great time because of how involved they were [with our side of the project]. There were weekly calls to make sure that what we were doing followed along with what they wanted.”

The equipment complement includes XPression Studio for insert graphics and scorebug, Piero Live for the Down and Distance system, and Ross Tally. As for control of the 24,500-sq.-ft., 79.5 million-pixel LED displays, Ross Video’s XPression Tessera feeds the end-zone displays, the side boards, and the 60 displays installed on the third-floor concourse, and Ultrix Carbonite handles video processing. EVO NAS Storage is used for storage and playback of all end-zone videoboards. Also deployed are Ultritouch 2RU control surfaces, Ross Dashboard servers, and INcoder and Project Server workflow servers.

Fans are enjoying brand-new elements and activations on game day.

Ross Video has been involved in a good chunk of recent venue-centric control-room remodels, accommodating different sizes of videoboards and different production philosophies. For instance, Lahey and his team were part of the control-room implementation at Los Angeles-area SoFi Stadium three years ago. Featuring the largest double-sided LED display in sports, that structure required much innovative thinking and the ability to match the ribbon boards with what’s seen on the halo board. The Lambeau Field upgrade reflects the Packers’ contrasting mentality, with fewer ribbons and the need for constant game-in-progress information since there are only two main videoboards.

“We’re able to still do a lot of cool things,” says Lahey, “but we had to keep different parameters in mind. A classic fanbase like the Packers are focused on the game, but now they get these added elements.”

The SoFi Stadium and Lambeau Field implementations helped make Ross Video a formidable force in the in-venue space. With the two stadiums as NFL benchmarks, the company has seen exponential growth in this space over the last six or seven years.

“Our clients and customers in the industry continue to challenge us with bigger boards and new wants and needs,” says Lahey. “As new technologies come along, we’re thankful that they keep coming back to us.”

Game-Day Activations: Fans Take in New Videoboard Elements

The combination of a new control room and new LED real estate has motivated the team to reconfigure the in-venue show with brand-new elements and concepts. For graphics, the Packers’ creative team tapped the expertise of Ross Video’s Rocket Surgery service for a new animation package. Additional LED space also means room for more out-of-town scores, statistics, and other ancillary information.

Tundra Vision wanted the new LED displays to fit organically at historic Lambeau Field.

“Fans are noticing a more immersive experience with moments of exclusivity and some of the activations we can show on the videoboards and within the concourse,” says Arvin. “We have more flexibility in what we can do throughout the entire building.”

These elements are being pushed to the crowd via a Grass Valley K-Frame production switcher. At the beginning of the season, Tundra Vision was particularly focused on ensuring that the show made it onto the videoboards, but, as the crew get more comfortable in the new environment, the team plans to be more audacious with game-day elements.

“As the season progresses into next year,” says Shilbauer, “we’ll push the pedal down and see where we can go with this race car.”

New Age of Creativity: Green Bay Packers Set Up Bright Entertainment Future

Shilbauer and the team overcame the challenges and the risk of impairing the look and feel of one of the NFL’s most venerable buildings. The project was a milestone for both Shilbauer and Arvin; for the latter, it was the first-ever at this scale.

The new videoboard in the background of Packers vs. Saints on Sept. 24

“This was an opportunity for us to learn the room and understand [our workflows] from the ground up,” says Arvin. “For others looking to do this, I’d say to capitalize on the training resources available to know what you’re working with before seeing where you can push the technology. It has been an immense learning experience and an incredible project to be a part of.”

Shilbauer, on the other hand, has played a role in a handful of control-room renovations and LED display installations. Having experienced four previous control-room renovations at Lambeau Field, he envisioned what the future at the venue would look like and how the improvements would shepherd the club in the right direction.

“You want your control room to have longevity,” he points out. “Despite the process being difficult at times, we’re excited with how it has helped our show. We feel that this has set us up for success moving forward.”

The Green Bay Packers have six home games remaining in the 2023-24 NFL season: vs. Minnesota on Oct. 29, vs. the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 5, vs. the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 19, vs. Kansas City on Dec. 3, vs. Tampa Bay on Dec. 17, and vs. Chicago on Jan. 7.