13 Projects from 2017 That Showcase the Power of AV Integration

All-Star Festivities Enjoy All-Star Tech Treatment

When Major League Baseball’s best players and strongest sluggers gathered in Miami for the 2017 All-Star Game festivities in July, they took part in a history-making endeavor, thanks to Daktronics and its 21 LED displays around Marlins Park and in its concourses. For the first time, the video boards included so-called advanced statistics such as exit velocity for the many longballs launched in the Home Run Derby.

Marlins Park has used the Track Man system that posts cameras throughout the park to measure things like how far a fielder runs to catch a ball, but the Home Run Derby marked the debut of the advanced stats being shown to fans there.“They’ll see a lot more data than in a typical game,” said Daktronics professional services manager Dustin Cullhane, prior to the Midsummer Classic. “Baseball fans love stats, so we want to show them as many as we can.”

Daktronics staffers have worked with officials from MLB and the hosting Miami Marlins to develop the protocol for the All-Star Game festivities, Cullhane said, and installers put in a DMP 8000 control system in the off season —a nice coincidence with the marquee events. Those include a celebrity softball game, a matchup between minor league rising stars, the Home Run Derby, and the All-Star Game itself.

At nearby MLB FanFest inside the Miami Beach Convention Center, Daktronics and MLB officials set up what Cullhane calls “a hype video,” featuring some of the All-Stars on a Daktronics narrow pixel-pitch 1.9mm display.