Scope of Work: Design, Financial Modeling, Procurement and Oversight. HDR LED DISPLAYS The first major hurdle for LED upgrades involved the fact that primary LED Scoreboard was landlocked by building structural features, preventing a size increase. AJP managed the structural engineering for major renovations that resulted in a significant increase in scoreboard square footage. The new HDR, 10mm pixel pitch, concave display measures 110-feet wide by 4-inches wide by 44-feet, 2-inches feet high and boasts 4873 sq ft of LED compared to the previous board’s 3499 sq ft. New Ribbon Board Displays (10mm) surround the primary, with a new lower “Monster Ribbon Board” (13.3 feet high by 77 feet wide), and refreshed upper LED Ribbon Board (4 feet by 75.5 feet). Existing Left and Right Outfield Wall Displays (each 10.5 feet by 63.5 feet) were replaced with 10mm LED and a specialty, glare-free, polycarbonate protective sheeting to protect them. New 16mm LED was installed for Foul Pole Displays, along with the Parapet Ribbon Board that runs nearly 360 degrees around the stadium. STATE-OF-THE-ART VIDEO REPLAY CONTROL ROOM The Video Replay Control Room design features a full 1080p HDR system and involved the central equipment room (TOC), the Production Control Room, all front-of-house operations, and the augmentation of the existing JBT broadcast cable infrastructure with single-mode fiber. The control room refresh was a complete rebuild with 100% of the control room cabling being gutted and replaced, right down to the last wire—not typical for this type of upgrade scenario. SOUND REINFORCEMENT SYSTEM AJP designed the sound reinforcement system in 2019 and managed the installation during the 2019-2020 off-season. The Distributed Loudspeaker design included replacement of all loudspeakers, complimenting amplifiers, digital signal processing, front of house source equipment for the bowl, back of house and outdoor areas, and replacement of all outdoor speaker cable. www.sportsvideo.org TORONTO BLUE JAYS INJECT ENERGY INTO ROGERS CENTRE WITH NEW 1080P HDR-CAPABLE CONTROL ROOM, VIDEOBOARD This is the club’s newest scoreboard since 2005, newest control room since 2011. In the home stretch of the 2022 MLB regular season, the Toronto Blue Jays are one of three Wild Card teams in the American League. With half of their remaining 12 games to be played at Rogers Centre, the club expects an extra boost of adrenaline not only from the home crowd but also from an in-venue show driven by a brand-new 1080p HDR-capable control room and centerfield videoboard. “I’m really happy with how everything turned out,” says Mike Christiansen, director, technical production and broadcast services, Toronto Blue Jays. “I’m proud of the way that our crew adapted to going from half of an HD frame to this gigantic display.” The project implementing the franchise’s newest scoreboard in 17 years and the newest control room in more than a decade has been three years in the making. After the contract was awarded to Alpha Video in 2019, the process was brought to a screeching halt in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. And the plan ended up being transformed: originally calling for an IP-centric control room, it transitioned to a 1080p, HDR-capable baseband facility. During the pandemic upheaval, the organization was in and out of Rogers Centre: in the shortened 2020 season, playing 21 games at TD Ballpark, its Spring Training home, in Dunedin, FL, and, in 2020 and 2021, 49 total games at Sahlen Field, home of the Triple A Buffalo Bison. In the offseason prior to the 2022 season, the Blue Jays and the crew at Alpha Video completed the project to wow fans with a new look in Toronto. “Our design team worked with [Anthony James Partners Director, Broadcast,] Mike Martin to put together a baseband equivalent to what we had planned on doing in IP,” says Jeff Volk, VP, Alpha Video. “After two years of starts, stops, and multiple redesigns and other things, the goal was to be ready for Opening Day.” The lockout at the beginning of the regular season brought no new challenges to the project, but Christiansen, Volk, and the rest of the crew working on the control-room integration still needed to overcome the lingering effects of the pandemic. Health and safety restrictions imposed by the Canadian government made it a bit difficult for an American company to go back and forth across the U.S.-Canada border. To avoid increased supply-chain issues or other delays, Alpha Video partnered with Unity SI — a trusted company located 35 miles north of Rogers Centre in Newmarket, Ontario — which served as its conduit in Canada. The partnership was fruitful, with the Canadian company helping Alpha fulfill multiple tasks: the heavy lift of revamping the control room, installing the Ross Video XPression-based LED used for the video displays, refurbishing the infrastructure of the new mobile unit docking bay, and upgrading broadcast cabling in numerous positions. “We leaned heavily on [Unity] to be our boots on the ground,” notes Volk. “I can’t stress enough what a great job [President/CEO] Doug Waldron and the team at Unity did as our partner.” For Christiansen, it was extremely important to work with a systems integrator that was reliable and committed to the project: “We knew that [COVID-19] might be a challenge, but we went with Alpha based on their work in other control rooms. I think it was important that I had a personal connection with them as well.” Heading into this endeavor, Christiansen and his crew of Senior Manager, Technical Production, Christina Gunn and Broadcast Engineer Steph Gagnon were specific on the vendors and products they wanted for this new space. Whether from experience or the need for surefire solutions and services that elevate the game presentation, Volk was more than willing to help bring this equipment to the control room or lower bowl. “Mike and his team had very strong ideas about who they wanted their partners to be,” he adds. “They wanted Sony as their camera manufacturer. They wanted to continue being EVS users, so they have one of the more advanced EVS replay environments that we’ve installed on the baseband side.” The 1080p, HDR-capable control room is anchored by Ross Video’s Acuity production switcher and XPressions graphics system. Replay is handled by two XT-Via replay servers at 8 channels each and a 6-channel XS-Via playback server, along with IPDirector and XTAccess. Daktronics DakStats provides real-time statistics for all LED displays. Riedel control-room communications equipment includes DSP-2312 SmartPanel and Artist 128 digital intercom network. Evertz EQX16 router is at the core of the rack room. Other notable gear in the space: Adder Technology Adderlink Infinity Dual for KVM; AJA HI5-4K-PLUS for HD/SD-SDI HDR-to-HDMI video and audio conversion; and FS-HDR for HDR material. The show is run with 11 cameras: five Sony HDC-3500’s, five Sony BRC-H800 robos (one for home bullpen, one for away bullpen, one high home, one on the roof, and one in the ress conference room) controlled by Sony’s RM-IP500 PTZ camera remote controller, and a Sony PMW300 with DTC Solo7 Broadcast Nano COFDM Tx and Pro-RX receiver. All cameras are outfitted with various Fujinon lenses. Baseball fans fully embraced the Blue Jays when they returned to Toronto on July 30, 2021 — 670 days after their previous home game. Since the 2022 home opener, fans have been impressed by the overall experience at the ballpark. From a new lighting system coordinated with the revamped sound system and animations on the videoboard to full displays dedicated to players like closer Jordan Romano, Director, Game Entertainment and Production, Stefanie Wright and her production staff have a new set of tools to work with. Through a partnership with Daktronics, the 10 new LED displays offer a total real estate of 14,000+ sq. ft., combine for more than 11 million pixels, and come in at 10-mm pixel spacing. The centerpiece is the main videoboard in centerfield. Measuring 49 ft. high by 110.5 ft. wide, the display features variable-content zoning to show one large image or multiple areas of content, including combinations of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics and game info, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages. Surrounding this behemoth are four additional LED displays: two 15.5-ft.-high by 75.5-ft.-wide fixtures next to the bottom of the main screen and two 5- by 75.5-ft. ribbons near the middle. In addition, Rogers Centre is upping the production with a handful of other video displays: a 3.5-ft.-high by 1,324-ft.-wide ribbon board along the seating fascia with 16-mm pixel spacing, two 6- by 32.5-ft. screens near the foul poles, and two 9.5- by 65-ft. structures along the outfield wall at 10-mm pixel spacing. “Since we’re constrained by the hotel windows surrounding the display,” says Christiansen, “the whole intent was to do a bigger scoreboard that incorporated all available space in the outfield. With a 10-mm videoboard, we wanted to utilize everything we could and keep our [control-room] technology up to date.” The crowds may be ecstatic about the changes, but, for Christiansen and the technicians in the control room, it has been a time filled with challenges. Any production crew making the jump to HDR encounters a steep learning curve to accommodate changes in color, brightness, and other stylistic and technical factors. Adding new equipment to the mix, the crew needed to get accustomed to the new workflows. “The hardest part was not doing everything that we‘re used to doing,” says Christiansen. “We promised ourselves that, by the All-Star break, we’d have this ironed out, and we feel like we’re in a good place.” Ultimately, to ensure that fans would have a pleasurable experience and see visuals the way they were intended to be seen, in-venue shows in 2022 are still in SDR. When the crew is comfortable with the workflow, and other renovations allow it, the show will make the leap to HDR. “We didn’t want to jump right into [HDR] because we’ve heard about some of the challenges in matching colors,” he says. “We’re doing a lot of testing with different cameras and different ways that our content team is shooting footage. We also have great support from our partners to help with any issues.” Christiansen has been a club employee for two decades: control room operator, 2002-04; technical producer, 2005-08; manager, technical production and broadcast services, 2009-18; and his current role since 2018. In that time, he has seen how technologies constantly change and has become an integral part of the club’s technological decision-making. As the tech pushes toward the next era of game-day production and in-venue entertainment, the show will continue to improve. “Every year, there’s more and more,” says Christiansen. “We’re embarking on a multiyear renovation this offseason as well. We’re moving forward to make an older building as good for the fans as we can.” www.AVnetwork.com MAJOR LEAGUE AV AT TORONTO’S ROGERS CENTER The Toronto Blue Jays have improved the fan experience with display and loudspeaker upgrades.
Over the past few seasons, the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team has experienced an exciting transition. Younger, fresh players have taken the league by storm and the wins are mounting up. And as the on-field product improved, so did things behind the scenes. Part of a $200-million budget to renovate the Rogers Centre and surrounding area was focused on the technology in the team’s stadium. With the previous AV upgrades completed circa 2012, it was simply time for a reboot. “When you get clients like this, to me it’s a special project,” said Michael Martin, director of broadcast services at Anthony James Partners (AJP). “[The Blue Jays] understood that where they were at required a complete overhaul—and they wanted a fresh look.” Martin and his team at AJP collaborated with Rogers Communications, which owns the Toronto Blue Jays; however, the finished product was a long time coming. The discussions, plans, and bids began as early as 2018, and when everything looked set to go, the world shut down. The new-look Rogers Centre was put on hold. The project was back on track around May of 2021. According to Martin, the day after the last game of the 2021 season, the control room went down and the much-anticipated upgrades—including a new LED display system, new video control room, and reinforced, dynamic sound system—were underway. Centerfield Considerations The main AV attraction is the Daktronics videoboard in centerfield. It spans 4,873 square feet, nearly 1,400 square feet larger than the previous scoreboard. However, AJP and its team of integrators had the unique challenge of a confined space: There is a hotel in centerfield. “We were able to work with the design team at AJP to come up with a scoreboard layout that maximizes all the available space in the outfield, considering we are land-locked around a hotel,” said Mike Christiansen, director of technical production and broadcast services for the Toronto Blue Jays. “AJP helped us envision use of the available space in the best possible way through their renders and guidance.” AJP and its integrators went to work to structurally fit the 10mm pixel pitch, curved HDR videoboard—but there was more work to do in the outfield. Surrounding the main videoboard are two upper ribbons (four foot high and more than 75 feet wide) and two lower ribbons (13.2 feet high and 77 feet wide), which combine five vibrant LED displays into one monster visual experience in centerfield. Now, the Blue Jays content team has multiple zones to bring a wide variety of graphics to its fans, including replay, player stats, and sponsor messaging. Also new are left and right foul pole displays, left field and right field wall displays (each measuring 10.5 feet by 63.5 feet), and a left and right parapet ribbon board that encircles nearly the entire stadium. “The technology improvements help with the overall fan experience as we begin to renovate this 30-year-old stadium,” Christiansen said. “After the product on the field, the sound and LED systems are the most noticeable things in the stadium, and doing these massive upgrades shows our fanbase that we are committed to improving their experience at the ballpark.” Mission Control The “fresh look” directive was also applied to the video replay control room. While a complete facelift wasn’t required, AJP decided to bring its unique style to the project, adding branding to the control room. “Any picture of one of our control rooms, you can tell exactly where it’s at,” said Martin. “That’s because of the branding of the countertops, the side modules, and the building itself.” The control room was completely gutted. “Every single table was stripped out; we took it down to the bare core,” Martin recalled. “So, when we say we rebuilt it, when the room was done, it was a brand-new build at that point. It was a total change to the look of the room, but we never changed the layout.” With the design upgrade in place, AJP worked with Alpha Video and its partner Unity-SI on a new video replay backed by an HDR system. As Martin explained, the Blue Jays are wisely taking their time taking in the new system. “Next year it will be flipping to HDR,” he said. “That was intentional, [the Blue Jays] wanted to get used to the control room before having to overcome learning HDR. But they are full capable right now—it’s just flipping a switch and creating the content.” While they stuck with the existing wireless systems, they also added five Sony HDC-3500 cameras, six Sony BRC-X1000 4K PTZ cameras, and a complement of Marshall CV565-MGB POV cameras. “Graphics were the switch,” explained Martin. “They left Chyron and moved over to a Ross Xpression. They have a three-channel Xpression unit as their main CG, but their LED front-end is a full [Biamp] Tesira system, which is running all the front end for the back system.” Opening Day Comfort The sound system was also upgraded, including the replacement of all loudspeakers and amplifiers. Now, EAW QX series loudspeakers keep the main seating areas bumping, while QSC Q-SYS processing solutions and amplifiers can be controlled remotely from anywhere in the stadium. The upgrades were ready to entertain fans with stunning new visuals and sound for Opening Day 2022. “It was a nice smooth transition,” said Martin. “Alpha and Unity up in Canada did such a great job. The whole team worked in a such great collaboration—we did not squeak into the end; we went in comfortably.” That comfort was the result of a “very proactive team,” according to Martin. “Mike Christiansen and his team made my life easy—from the start to the end, they were a part of the whole project,” he explained. “Nothing was being done that they weren’t a part of the decision. What that does toward the end, is they start learning beforehand. They were training well before the system was built. When the system was ready for a test, they already knew how to run everything, and their graphics guys already had the graphics built. It makes the system come together so smoothly.” “The relationship with AJP was fundamental to help us through the multi-year process, navigating vendors, contractors, bidding, pricing, and dealing with challenges that come up along the way,” added Christiansen. “It was comforting to have a team of professionals in our corner representing our interests along the way, so we could focus on the other day-to-day work that doesn’t stop during upgrades and construction projects like this. We look forward to using AJP’s services as we move through the rest of the stadium renovations in the next couple of offseasons.” www.thestadiumbusiness.com AJP COMPLETES TECH UPGRADES AT BLUE JAYS’ ROGERS CENTRE The Toronto Blue Jays have improved the fan experience with display and loudspeaker upgrades. Anthony James Partners (AJP), a subsidiary of ASM Global, has announced the completion of major technology upgrades at Rogers Centre, home of Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays. The upgrades have been rolled out for the new MLB season and are designed to enhance the overall game experience for fans, players and employees. The C$13.7m (£8.3m/€10m/$10.9m) audiovisual tech overhaul forms part of the wider C$200m modernisation of the stadium and includes a new video replay control room, revamped LED display system and sound system. The revamped LED display system includes a huge 110-foot by 44-foot LED scoreboard, a monster ribbon board and new left and right outfield wall displays, while the new sound system includes a replacement of all loudspeakers and amplifiers. The video replay control room has also been completely rebuilt. The upgrades cap off a three-year phased audiovisual technology implementation, which AJP worked on alongside the Blue Jays and Rogers Communication, which owns the team. ASM Global acquired a controlling interest in AJP back in January. AJP specialises in audiovisual technology systems and solutions, with its recent and current partners including the Nashville Predators, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Union. Last month, the Blue Jays received approval to carry out further renovation work at Rogers Centre amid ongoing talks over a potential new stadium for the team. Rogers Centre’s clubhouse, training room and other facilities will be upgraded, while work is also set to be carried out in the 100 Level of the stadium. Mark Shapiro, president and chief executive of the Blue Jays, said the work will provide the team with more time to assess a potential new stadium for the team. In November 2020, it was reported that Rogers Communications had put plans to redevelop the ballpark temporarily on hold amid reports that the franchise is considering building a new stadium on the site of its current home. The 49,000-seat Rogers Centre has been the home of the Blue Jays since 1989 and is also used to host music concerts. It previously served as the home of Canadian Football League team the Toronto Argonauts and also hosted the NBA’s Toronto Raptors in the 1990s while the team’s new arena was being built.
Product Categories: LED Display Systems, Broadcast Cable Package, Video Replay Control Room, Sound Reinforcement System.PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
September 21, 2022Shifted Timeline: COVID Delays Project Two Years
Behind the Scenes: A Peek Into the New Broadcast-Control Room
Fueling the Playoff Push: Enhanced Displays for Fans in Toronto
Getting Up to Speed: Team Navigates Challenges To Adapt to HDR Workflows
New Chapter: Christiansen Witnesses Tech Evolution Over the Years
June 30, 2022
April 12, 2022