When new management took over the iconic home of the Denver Broncos, they wanted to make some big improvements to the fan experience—but faced significant challenges.
Empower Field at Mile High, home to the Denver Broncos, is one of the premier NFL venues in North America. When new ownership took the reins in 2022, they had big plans. They set out to build one of the biggest scoreboards in the league and completely revamp how fans experience the game. But with massive upgrades come big challenges. ThunderVision, the Broncos’ in-house production team, is responsible for keeping fans engaged inside the stadium and overhauling the venue control systems.
The in-house production team, ThunderVision, saw this as an opportunity to optimize the entire venue control system but only had a few months between seasons to get the job done.
With the new ownership’s push to install a massive 72- by 225-ft. scoreboard—the fifth largest in professional football—the team realized they needed to overhaul their control room. An ambitious project to start with, it was made even more challenging with just a couple of months to execute it before the new season started.
ThunderVision saw this as an opportunity to optimize the entire control room workflow. They wanted every one of the 55 LED displays throughout the stadium—from massive end-zone screens and immersive concourse displays, to smaller vomitory, tunnel displays, and IPTV systems—synchronized in a single system.
Ross Video’s unified venue control system was the only solution that could give ThunderVision what they wanted.
The Broncos installed the Ultrix Acuity and Ultrix Carbonite production platforms for combined switching and routing functionality, XPression Tessera to drive pixel-accurate content to the largest displays, and XPression Graphics for character generation. Combined with a custom DashBoard panel, the entire venue and display workflow is now managed by one cohesive platform.
With Ross technology, ThunderVision could trigger all the stadium’s LED displays in sync with minimal manual intervention. That simplified game-day operations, making everything from highlighting a big play to triggering ribbon board graphics easier, and freed the ThunderVision team to focus on creating the most engaging visuals and experience for fans.
ThunderVision now has two 1080pHDR-capable control rooms: a main and a secondary space. The upgrades have transformed the game experience for Broncos fans and lightened ThunderVision’s workload, freeing them to focus on creating the ultimate fan experience.
Whether fans are watching the action unfold on the video board or checking updates on smaller concourse displays, they are immersed in a data-rich, visually engaging environment across the stadium. Thanks to PIERO Live, fans now have access to all the statistics and information they would get watching at home, including First Down Lines, 3D Play Clocks, Red Zone Markers, and Field Goal Target Lines, but in the immersive atmosphere of Empower Field.
The relationship between Ross and ThunderVision has empowered the team to think big and push creative boundaries. With Ross Video’s providing the open-ended platform and ongoing support, ThunderVision can create an unforgettable game-day experience that resonates with fans long after the game has ended.
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