VENUE SPOTLIGHT > LITTLE CAESARS ARENA
> Little Caesars Arena, a major step up from the Red Wings’ previous facility, anchors the new District Detroit. videoboard structure. With 18 cameras at its disposal — up from four SD cameras at Joe Louis Arena — Olympia Entertainment’s entertainment-services team is also responsible for three weekly web features: XFINITY Week in Review, The Forecheck, and This Week at 313 Presents. 313 Presents is a joint venture between Olympia Entertainment and Palace Sports & Entertainment, also headquartered at Little Caesars Arena. When Skorich first arrived at Olympia Entertainment in early 2017, his immediate focus was putting together an entertainment services department to create a wealth of content for the Red Wings’ fanbase, both inside and outside the arena. “We put that team together so that we could develop what I call a content factory,” he said. “We are pumping out volumes of content every day and following the Red Wings around. Whether it be game-related features, documenting what the team is doing in the community, or developing content for our partners, we’re fortunate to have a talented team in place that has a passion for creating high-quality content.” In addition to the centerhung videoboard, the entertainment-services team creates content for 45 large LED displays throughout the venue, including two 360-degree ribbon displays, 15 additional ribbon displays, seven exterior displays (including a 900-sq.-ft. Chevrolet Plaza display), and much more. The arena’s pièce de résistance is a 600-ft. jewel skin on the upper concourse, composed of 4,210 panels with 12 laser projectors that greets fans as they walk into the building. With the jewel skin, Little Caesars Arena can project images and color schemes that immediately brand the venue for any event, be it sports or entertainment. Rounding out Little Caesars Arena’s fan-facing video elements is an LED ceiling inside the bowl, which can also showcase images and event-specific color schemes, including a 3D image-mapping system. The LED ceiling, combined with a state-of-the-art lighting grid and banner system (the Red Wings’ 11 Stanley Cup Championship banners are unfurled dramatically before each game, for example) ensures that the in-venue experience will be unforgettable before the game even starts. “It is a building that is a real, live, breathing creature that has a lot of elements of surprise for people that are coming for the first time,” said Skorich. “We feel like we have so many things at our disposal that, no matter how many times you come to a Red Wings or Pistons game or a concert or show, you’re seeing something different every night.” < VENUE SPECIFICATIONS — LITTLE CAESARS ARENA VIDEOBOARD MANUFACTURER
MAIN VIDEOBOARD DIMENSIONS
CONTROL-ROOM INTEGRATOR
SWITCHER
ROUTER
GRAPHICS
REPLAY
CAMERAS
Daktronics
28 ft. x 43.5 ft. (4)
Diversified
Grass Valley Karrera
Evertz Magnum
Ross Video XPression, Tessera
Evertz DreamCatcher
Sony HDC-4300, PKW-Z450
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SPORTSTECHJOURNAL / FALL 2018