Florida Panthers Begin Second-Straight Title Defense With New Centerhung at Amerant Bank Arena

ANC, Anthony James Partners, BeckTV supplied LEDs and new content-management system

For the second consecutive season, the Florida Panthers will raise a Stanley Cup Championship banner to the rafters of Sunrise, FL’s Amerant Bank Arena prior to Tuesday’s season-opener against the Chicago Blackhawks. During the offseason, another important fixture was raised: a new massive centerhung hovering over center ice. Featuring four 4-mm displays at 38 ft. x 31 ft. each, a total LED real estate of 4,762 sq. ft., and two 11- by 18-ft. angled underbelly screens, with a new 75-ft.-diameter by 7-ft.-high halo, the centerhung is intended to elevate the atmosphere on game day.

“Our organization is invested in not only success on the ice but also success from a game-presentation and marketing perspective,” says Michael Masino, VP, game entertainment and operations, Florida Panthers. “This project is the cornerstone of continuing to enhance our fan experience.”

Getting to Work: Project Begins the Day After 2024-25 Stanley Cup Victory Parade

Installed in 2013, the venue’s previous videoboard, which was 3,061 sq. ft. smaller than the new setup, was ready for a significant tech upgrade. The control room’s content-management system was also in a need of a refresh.

Florida Panthers start their NHL title defense with a new centerhung videoboard at Amerant Bank Arena.

“We were limited with our existing system’s functionality,” says Masino, “and the overall appearance of our LED surfaces no longer best represented the product our content team was producing. As technology changes rapidly, we felt that it was time to reface all our LED surfaces and deploy a state-of-the-art unified content-management system that would set us up for the future.”

This task was extremely important, but, for the NHL dynasty — since the turn of the decade, the Panthers have made the playoffs every season and have been the Eastern Conference representative in the three latest Stanley Cup Finals — the franchise’s highest goal is to lift another trophy. That was accomplished on June 17 in South Florida, and, with a victory parade on June 22, the Ice Cats were ready to party. But another NHL season was quickly approaching, and the team reassembled on June 23 to begin work on the project.

Luckily, Masino has long experience choosing the right solution. Having worked with the Florida Marlins for 4½ years, the University of Arkansas for nearly 2½, and the Washington Nationals for 3½, and the Panthers for 3½ years, he has experience with numerous systems available to the industry. Ultimately, the Panthers chose Ross Video Tessera to drive the workflows.

“During our visits to different venues and the detailed conversations we had,” says Masino, “we settled on a couple of great options. When we started looking at how these new videoboards have the ability to sync all their elements across the entire show, we realized that Tessera has the capability and flexibility to let us build out our show exactly the way that we want it.”

The new centerhung features 4,762 sq. ft. of total LED real estate.

BeckTV was tapped for the content-management system. BeckTV Managing Partner/VP, Business Development, Matt Weiss and Systems Engineer Abel Sassenhagen led the implementation effort.

The Right Fit: The Club Forges Partnerships With ANC, Anthony James Partners

The next step in the process was to find the tech partners to implement the club’s strategy. A general proposal was sent out to all available companies, but, having worked with Ross Video in the past, Masino was familiar with Anthony James Partners (AJP). A tech consultancy known for work within other sports venues — such as the Miami Heat’s Kaseya Center, Washington Commanders’ Northwest Stadium, and Cleveland Guardian’s Progressive Field — AJP became the Panthers’ go-to provider.

“The creativity that AJP brought to the table and their focus on delivering [a finished product] on our tight timeline were two aspects that [attracted] us to them,” adds Masino. “They helped us come up with what the board and the additional surrounding elements would look like.”

The new centerhung features 4,762 sq. ft. of total LED real estate.

AJP Co-Founder/CEO Mike Rowe; EVP, Business Development, AJ Faxel; VP, Construction Services, Royce Wall; Senior Project Manager Jon Holvey; and Design Engineer Peter Dudley were key in providing support. After the concept renderings and AJP’s vision of the videoboard were finalized, an LED manufacturer was needed. Probably the only downside of being the last squad standing was the tight timeline, which began on June 23 and concluded just before the team’s first preseason game on Monday, Sept. 29 against the Carolina Hurricanes. But ANC was up to it, with an effort led by ANC Senior Project Manager Jesse Vellucci and Project Manager Jack McCrossin.

“We worked with [Amerant Bank Arena SVP, Live Entertainment] Zane Collings to black out the entire month of July on the calendar,” notes Masino. “It put us in a great spot to get this project done when we needed to. We had weekly meetings with all our partners to talk through any issues that came up. Everybody worked together, with a problem-solving mindset.”

Learning Curve: Crew Adapts Content, Preexisting Workflows to New Videoboard

Although the centerhung is the main centerpiece of the Panthers’ new LED complement, the venue also boasts 1,800 linear ft. of ribbon boards, a club-level horseshoe ribbon board, new vomitory displays, a redesigned tunnel display, dual lobby boards inside the building, and a new digital marquee outside. The new LED video displays, a 4K HDR-capable centerhung, and preexisting workflows in a control room that opened in 2013 represented a learning curve for the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

The production team is working in a hybrid environment this season: capturing Media Day content with a 4K RED camera but operating the centerhung in 1080p SDR. Masino worked with his entire staff — including Director, Creative, Brett Maurer; Senior Director, Content Services, Dennis Docil; Manager, Content and Motion Graphics, Mārcis Krasovskis; Production Manager, Game Presentation, Dylan Thomas; and Production Intern Madison Rossina — to develop the visuals for the new displays.

One of two 11- by 18-ft. angled underbelly screens on the new centerhung videoboard at Amerant Bank Arena

“We pulled images of every centerhung we could find to see how they were mapped out,” says Masino. “Since we were starting from scratch, the benefit of having Ross Tessera is that we were able to do anything we wanted. It forced us to take a creative approach to the entire process, and I couldn’t be happier with how our team worked together to get us to where we are now.”

Community Project: Franchise Works With County To Convert Concept Into Reality

An ambitious project like the new centerhung requires much internal coordination. From top to bottom, everybody — executives like Florida Panthers CMO Lauren Cochran, COO Rob Stevenson, and CFO James Suh; tech-savvy employees like Senior Director, Technology, Brian Brown; and facility experts like VP, Facility Operations, Angel Garcia and Director, Engineering and Electrical, Daniel Beal — needed to be on the same page. In addition, an amended and extended agreement with Broward County allowed arena renovations, including this centerhung, to be done.

“This was the first major renovation under our reworked deal,” Masino explains. “Once we worked with [the county] to secure funds and the go-ahead, we took the rest of the project in-house.”

The collaborative effort, as well as the team’s championship pedigree, has emboldened the organization to begin a new era of production and innovation. Setting a new standard both on the ice and off, the effort created many reasons for fans to be excited when they walk through the doors of Amerant Bank Arena.

“It has been incredible to be here throughout this period,” says Masino. “It’s our job to capitalize on this success and provide a great show for our fans. Our new scoreboard, LED infrastructure, and continued investment is going to allow us to elevate that experience on a year-to-year basis.”

After tonight’s season opener, the Florida Panthers will host five more home games at Amerant Bank Arena in October: Thursday, Oct. 9 vs. the Philadelphia Flyers; Saturday, Oct. 11 vs. the Ottawa Senators; Thursday, Oct. 23 vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins; Saturday, Oct. 25 vs. the Vegas Golden Knights; and Tuesday, Oct. 28 vs. the Anaheim Ducks.