Tech CU Arena to entertain visitors with Daktronics LED system

New home to the San Jose Barracuda, Tech CU Arena in San Jose, California, is set to receive LED technology from Daktronics (NASDAQ-DAKT) of Brookings, South Dakota. A new continuous centre-hung system, four ribbon displays and a marquee will be installed this spring as this expansion to Sharks Ice facility is schedule to open for the 2022 hockey season.

Barracuda Director of Business Operations, Eric Grundfast, said:

Aside from the game itself, the most import thing in an arena is the scoreboard. Our organization has worked with Daktronics for several years at SAP Center and to get a scoreboard of this quality at Tech CU Arena is a tremendous development for the organization and is going to make the fan experience as good as any in the AHL.

Richard Rocha, general manager of Sharks Ice at San Jose, said:

Having a state-of-the-art scoreboard at Tech CU Arena creates countless possibilities for our facility. Beyond just assisting in being one of the best home-ice advantages in the AHL, the scoreboard will allow our organization to maximize our creative limits and enhance our guest experience while hosting events beyond just Barracuda games. We’re really excited to work with a first-class company like Daktronics to bring vision to life.

As fans arrive at the new arena, they will be greeted by a marquee display measuring 6 feet high by 11 feet wide and featuring 10-millimter pixel spacing. This display will welcome guests to events and provide information about all upcoming events.

Once inside the arena, visitors will be informed and entertained with four main video displays on the centre-hung, each measuring approximately 12.5 feet high by 21.5 feet wide. Connecting the corners of the centerhung for one continuous visual experience are four additional displays, each measuring 13 feet high by 5.5 feet wide. All centre-hung displays feature tight 5.9-mm pixel spacings to deliver crisp, clear imagery to fans in every seat.

Robin Hall, Daktronics regional manager, said:

This installation will provide a major league experience for the San Jose Sharks minor league team, the Barracuda. We’re grateful to continue our partnership with the Sharks organization and to provide them with the best LED products available in the sports industry. This new installation will be first-class and will provide an excellent experience for the fans, players and partners years to come.

Around the seating bowl, four ribbon displays will be installed. Two ribbons will measure nearly 3 feet high by 182 feet in length and two will measure nearly 3 feet high by 51 feet long. These displays will feature 15mm line spacing while providing supplemental in-game data and graphics to the centre-hung system, as well as providing the opportunity to highlight partners throughout events.

Daktronics will also be including a complete Show Control solution. This industry-leading control system provides a combination of display control software, world-class video processing, data integration and playback hardware that forms a powerful yet user-friendly production solution.

Daktronics has grown with the sports industry from the company’s beginnings in 1968. Today, the company has integrated LED super systems in nearly 60 percent of all professional sports facilities in the United States and Canada.

Naming rights

Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE), the parent company of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League and San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League, along with PIVOT Agency, announced last month that it had reached a 10-year agreement with Tech CU to become the naming rights partner of a new, state-of-the-art, 4,200-seat arena being constructed at Sharks Ice at San Jose to be known as Tech CU Arena. The naming rights partnership was voted on and approved unanimously by the San Jose City Council.

Brian Towers, Vice President, Sales & Service for the Sharks, said:

We are thrilled to announce this landmark partnership with a pioneer of the Silicon Valley. Tech CU is an award-winning financial institution, with an unwavering commitment to exceptional experiences for its members. Its role as a philanthropic leader in the San Jose community make it an ideal partner to open this state-of-the-art arena.  We welcome Tech CU to the Teal Inner Circle and look forward to many years of partnership.

With the naming rights partnership, Tech CU becomes the newest member of the Teal Inner Circle, an exclusive group within the SSE roster of corporate partners that share the organisation’s vision to pioneer and co-innovate the future of sports, joining SAP, Kaiser Permanente, Zoom, and Western Digital.  The partnership between Tech CU and SSE also includes presence at SAP Center at San Jose with in-ice branding, ATM locations, and co-promotional activities.

The engagement was facilitated by PIVOT Agency, a full-service marketing and sponsorship agency hired to drive more integrated partnerships between SSE and like-minded organisations, with a focus on building purpose driven partnerships based on shared values, vision, and a collaborative approach.

About the Barracuda

In 2022-23, the Barracuda will enter their eighth season playing in San Jose, and their first at the brand-new Tech CU Arena, following the American Hockey League’s creation of a Pacific Division of the AHL, now consisting of nine teams – all of whom serve as the primary development affiliations for the National Hockey League teams: San Jose (Sharks), Abbotsford (Vancouver Canucks), Bakersfield (Edmonton Oilers), Coachella Valley (Seattle Kraken), Colorado (Colorado Avalanche), Ontario (Los Angeles Kings), San Diego (Anaheim Ducks), Stockton (Calgary Flames), and Tucson (Arizona Coyotes).

Many of the players on the Sharks current roster have made their journey to the National Hockey League by playing and developing in the AHL, including Logan Couture, Rudolfs Balcers, Alex Barabanov, Brent Burns, Sasha Chmelevski, Jonathan Dahlen, Jonah Gadjovich, Noah Gregor, Kevin Labanc, John Leonard, Timo Meier, Matt Nieto, Nikolai Knyzhov, Nicolas Meloche, Ryan Merkley, Radim Simek, and Scott Reedy.

Join the Battery

Follow Frenzy to Tech CU Arena! The state-of-the-art facility will include 12 suites, eight loge boxes, one theatre suite, a 46-person party deck, three bar locations (with one at ice level), seven food concession stations, and two team merchandise stores. Join “The Battery” to become an exclusive member at the new facility!

A battery is a group or school of Barracuda. They ambush their predators and rely on their stealth and speed to capture their prey. As a member of the Battery, you are part of an exclusive group, and a key cog to the team’s home-ice advantage. Beyond just access to all home games, you’ll get food, beverage, ticket, and merchandise discounts, along with access to exclusive events with the players and at the facility.

Interested in more information, email sales@sjbarracuda.com.

#SJBarracuda

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