Biz Courier: Xavier to get assist from $2M scoreboard

Xavier University plans to install a new $2 million scoreboard at the Cintas Center with its marketing partner, Texas-based Learfield Sports. The scoreboard will be installed in time for the 2010-11 basketball season and should help Xavier boost revenue. Athletic Director Mike Bobinksi told the Busines Courier Learfield Sports will pay for virtually the entire cost. The only cost the Athletic Department could be responsible for is anything through the bid process that exceeds Learfield’s funding.

According the Business Courier, new scoreboards generate additional revenue opportunities for teams, but Learfield will get a share, too, by keeping a big chunk of the revenue it brings in from selling ads and sponsorships on the board. The new scoreboard system will not only feature higher-resolution video than the current board, it will also feature so-called “ribbon” boards – thin scoreboards that run around the arena’s main seating section. The ribbon boards will replace fixed signs and offer more sales opportunities for Xavier and Learfield. The programmable capability of the scoreboard’s main display also will allow for more ads to be sold, too, just in time to take advantage of the rise in prominence of Xavier’s men’s basketball team. The team made the Sweet Sixteen of last season’s NCAA tournament, on the heels of an Elite Eight appearance the year before. The Xavier women’s team, like the men, was nationally ranked last year, too.