Note: The following appears in the Miami football gameday program.
When fans walked into Memorial Stadium to start the 2022 season, they saw that some things had changed. Those were just the beginning of things that are set to come in the coming months and year at Death Valley.
The first thing that most fans noticed when they walked into the stadium this season was the new 126-foot wide, 56.5-foot tall (nearly 7,200 square feet) videoboard. It is the eighth largest in the NCAA and second largest in the ACC, and it includes a new speaker array sound system. The main videoboard is almost five times the size of the previous one, which stood 62-feet wide and 25-feet tall (1,550 square feet). The two videoboards on the west side of the stadium were also replaced.
The videoboard’s resolution is among the best in the nation, offering a bright, clear picture on over 6.4 million pixels. According to Eric Sabin, Clemson’s senior associate athletic director for facility management & capital projects, the 10mm pixel layout that creates the high resolution allows for excellent image clarity and wide-angle viewing throughout Memorial Stadium.
Fans have also noticed new Clemson Ring of Honor and façade signage, ribbon boards throughout the stadium and a new fan favorite that was on full display for the ESPN Saturday night prime-time game against NC State on Oct. 1…new LED lights. The new system is brighter and can be synced to music, making for an immersive experience fans cannot get at home.
“The lights at Memorial Stadium have enhanced the atmosphere of the night games at Clemson,” said student Jere Drummond. “It makes the most exciting 25 seconds in college football even more electric. The new updates to Memorial Stadium have made the environment second to none in the world of college football. The energy at the NC State game was one of a kind, and the crowd played a role in extending the nation’s longest active home winning streak.”
The Masters Club was also built as part of the 2022 renovations. It is on the concourse level in the west side of the stadium. The premium space added more than 600 seats outside and the same amount of space inside as the Younts South Club. The indoor club has private bathrooms, places to eat and drink and televisions to improve the fan experience on gameday.
The stadium’s east entrance at Howard’s Rock also features upgrades. The bottom of the new videoboard is approximately 20 feet above the ground, and there is now a 365-day view connecting the stadium and the Scroll of Honor and Memorial Park. Those are the first changes to that area since 2005. On that end of the stadium, the medallion plaques have been enhanced with LED lighting to be seen at night and extend the length of the stadium wall.
The athletic department will begin work on Phase II of the Memorial Stadium project in the days following the South Carolina game next weekend. The second phase includes a major upgrade to the Tiger Walk experience in the Rogers Family Lot and renovations to the first floor of the WestZone, including new locker rooms and team areas that have not been updated since 2006.
The Tiger Walk project includes the closure of the Rogers Family Lot from November through its anticipated completion in August. It will be unavailable for parking during the basketball, baseball and softball seasons.
The entrance plaza to Tiger Walk is already online, allowing the team buses to seamlessly pull off Perimeter Road on gameday. As part of this renovation, 115 new trees will be planted in the lot to replace the 21 that are already there. The trees will be grown to the right standards to ensure they grow well and live a long life.
“Clemson is synonymous with a best-in-class fan experience, and we took on projects that positively impact the gameday experience for all 80,000+ fans who fill Death Valley every Saturday,” said Director of Athletics Graham Neff.
“The 365-day utility of the Lot 5 project truly highlights the Tiger Walk tradition and provides needed safety enhancements to the area. The improvements to the team area will make that part of the stadium much more functional for our program on gamedays. Having the gameday experience match the success of our on-field product is paramount to making our program the best in the nation.”
