Mentor High School Installs Massive Football Video Scoreboard from Watchfire

Mentor High School, Mentor, Ohio, one of the state’s largest high schools, installed a massive 21’ x 50’ video scoreboard manufactured by Watchfire at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium as part of the school’s five-year upgrade plan for all outdoor sports facilities.

The 10mm video scoreboard replaced an aging combination fixed-digit scoreboard and video display that no longer was functional. The new videoboard delivers high resolution and vibrant colors and has viewing angles ideal for the 8,000-seat stadium. It can be zoned to display a virtual scoreboard, live video, and sponsor advertising.

“The new videoboard gives us an awe factor that we were missing with our last scoreboard,” said Jeff Cassella, athletic director at Mentor High School. “We’ve made great updates to the stadium, including a new entryway, ticket booth, concession areas, and training facilities. The new videoboard allows us to do so much more, and the quality of the video and animations is unbelievable.”

The stadium hosts events for high school football, rugby, and track and field, as well as large youth football and flag football leagues. The videoboard can easily be programmed to highlight athletes, keep score for virtually any event, engage fans, showcase cheerleaders and band members, and live stream games and events on the field. Students are involved in operating sideline cameras, creating graphics, and assisting in running the board.

Replacing their old fixed-digit scoreboard with a new videoboard also has allowed the school to enhance its sponsorship program. Since ads are no longer fixed on the board, more sponsors can be featured. “We’re hoping the sponsorships will pay for the board within a couple of years,” said Cassella.

Ruff Neon of Painesville, OH, was tapped to replace the scoreboard and specified Watchfire for the project. “We’ve worked with Watchfire for more than 15 years, and their products are always reliable and look great,” said Jack Ruff, general manager at Ruff Neon.

In addition to sporting events, the school is considering other uses for the videoboard, including a community movie night in the summer.