By Joe Ragusa
NORMAL – Basketball games will be a different experience next season at Redbird Arena.
The Illinois State University Board of Trustees agreed to purchase a new scoreboard system at Friday’s meeting. It costs $950,000 and is funded by corporate sponsorships.
Peyton Deterding, ISU Associate Athletics Director for Internal Operations, said there are weight restrictions because of the roof structure, putting limits on the new system.
“It’s not going to be substantially bigger, but it will have some added features to it,” Deterding said. “The clarity will be better and the auxilliary boards will be much improved.”
The current video board was retrofitted in 2007.
“We’ve been fortunate, to be honest, to even get eight years out of the existing board,” Deterding said.
Deterding said the new system will likely be installed by the start of basketball season.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].