We all know the expression, “everything’s bigger in Texas,” and nothing’s bigger in Texas than football—from the perennial powerhouse University of Texas Longhorns down to youth leagues all around the Lone Star State.
So it’s certainly no surprise that our quest to find the most eye-popping and spectacular video boards in high school football led us to the southwest, particularly to Waxahachie Independent School District, where Daktronics installed a $500,000 board in time for the 2016 football season.
You might think that’s a lot to spend on an item that even school officials called a “luxury” item as they approved spending six figures on it, but I live in a town where I could see the same thing happening in the not-too-distant future—and I’m in the northeast! [related]
Waxahachie school officials are at least getting some educational use from their investment as students run the football scoreboard during games, so it’s not entirely extravagant, right?
What’s somewhat incredible—although not entirely surprising—is the Waxahachie football scoreboard is only one of many big-dollar spending sprees on Texas high school football stadiums. A pair of schools each spent more than $62 million on their venues recently, and I’m sure there are plenty of other examples of technological largesse if I kept looking.
While I didn’t find any examples of major cash outlays for high school football video boards in Massachusetts or across New England, there’s no other way to kick off—pardon the pun—your Thanksgiving Day than by heading back to your high school on Turkey Day and cheering for them to stomp their archrivals from the neighboring town.
That’s not exactly the spirit of Thanksgiving, the more I think about it, but there are few better feelings than having bragging rights on the people who live across town lines.
With Thanksgiving as the backdrop, we rounded up some of the biggest and best high school football video boards in the country. Check them out and let us know if you see any others during your Turkey Day travels! Happy Thanksgiving and go, Red Rocketeers!