Case Study

SoFi Stadium

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SECTION 1

Introduction

Described as the most technologically advanced sports and entertainment venue on the planet, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, plays host to both the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League, as well as some of the biggest live concerts in the world.

A marvel from both a technological and architectural standpoint, the low-slung stadium sits on the former site of the Hollywood Park racetrack and features an asymmetrical roofline containing a network of LED panels. Inside the venue, the centerpiece of the stadium is the 360-degree double-sided video board that spans 120 yards and contains nearly 80 million pixels.

 

As a true end-to-end 4K HDR broadcast facility, SoFi stadium has become the crown jewel of the world’s entertainment capital.

Section 2

The Challenge

The visionary behind the SoFi Stadium project is Los Angeles Rams team owner Stan Kroenke, and his goal from the outset was to create a world-class global sports destination in the heart of Los Angeles.

To match this lofty vision, the SoFi Stadium plans included a groundbreaking video experience with both a massive center-hung infinity screen and a translucent roof containing a network of LED lights that project images visible by flights into and out of the nearby LAX airport.

Beginning with the infinity screen, nothing of this size or orientation had ever been built in the world of sports and entertainment, so there wasn’t an exact blueprint for how to activate it. The most similar videoboard that had already been constructed was the Ross Video powered halo board at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. As a result, when SoFi Stadium’s Chief Technology Officer, Skarpi Hedinsson, consulted with his engineers about how they would bring the infinity screen at SoFi to life, they told him, “It was Ross Video or nobody.” The same comment would apply to activating the roof LEDs, as Ross Video’s XPression Tessera System offered the perfect solution to display video content and 3D animations pixel accurately on oversized LED displays.

Section 2

The Solution

As a multi-display, real-time graphics designer and controller, XPression Tessera can drive any LED display size and resolution pixel-accurately with pre-rendered and real-time rendered 3D graphics.

With XPression Tessera, a single animation can seamlessly occupy the entire 120-yard infinity board.

The versatility of the solution means that Tessera can also treat the eight primary sections of the screen at SoFi Stadium as distinct canvases, providing operators with the flexibility to present a variety of looks for their content during a live event. Not only are SoFi Stadium’s LED displays driven by Ross Video’s XPression Tessera system, but a large portion of the production control room contains Ross technology as well.

It’s not like Ross waved goodbye when we opened the stadium. Our partnership with Ross goes beyond the blinking lights and very much into the creative possibilities at the venue,

Skarpi Hedinsson
Chief Technology Officer | SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park

The full Ross solution at SoFI Stadium includes

Section 4

The Impact

As a multi-purpose venue that plays host to two separate NFL teams, SoFi Stadium’s production team requires tools that are flexible enough to transition from hosting an L.A. Rams game one week to an L.A. Chargers the next week and a mega concert event in-between.

The combination of Ross Video’s production control room technology with the XPression Tessera LED Content Management System and the DashBoard Venue Control Software delivers on the requirement of flexibility.

From the management of multiple internal LED displays, concourse feeds, and external displays to the control of third-party devices like video processors, LED lighting, and audio systems, the Ross Unified Venue Control Solution provides the SoFi team with complete control of their production and enables them to deliver a truly immersive live event experience for fans.

Specifically, the multiple Acuity production switchers allow the SoFi production team to cut pre-game, in-game, and post-game feeds simultaneously. When combining the switcher functionality with our software-defined Ultrix routing system, the team has an extremely powerful hyperconverged production solution that merges switching, routing, multi-viewers, and signal processing into a single platform.

With fan engagement at the core of every aspect of the SoFi stadium production, the PIERO Sports Analysis tool delivers virtual first down lines, red zone markers, sponsor logos, and more on football game-days to keep fans informed with every aspect of the on-field action. Inception is also used to draw fans closer to the action as it allows the stadium crew to publish fandriven social media content to their ribbon boards in real-time.

There are some vendors that you work with who tell you to ‘put it in a ticket’ if you are having a problem. With Ross, they have always been willing to help us get to the finish line with whatever we throw at them.

Jason Cothern
VP of Broadcast and Production

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Learn More

To discover how Ross Video is creating unforgettable matchday experiences for sports fans, while streamlining operations for in-house production teams, explore our Sports Venue Solutions page.