The Orioles have a new scoreboard at Camden Yards, and it's big. 2.5 times the size of the old one, which was the smallest in pro baseball. The new LED videoboard is now the 12th largest in MLB with full 4K resolution.
Image via Baltimore Orioles
They also added 1,125 feet of LED ribbon boards around the park and an updated out-of-town scoreboard in right field, all in 4K.
The Reveal
The Orioles showed off the size difference by displaying the old scoreboard dimensions on the new screen. Pretty cool way to do it.
How They Built It
Daktronics built the board and shipped it to Baltimore in 135 separate pieces. They lined the pieces up along Eutaw Street in February, then crane-lifted them one by one onto a steel structure in center field.
Image via Baltimore Orioles
They also upgraded the control room to fiber-optic, added wireless cameras and slow-motion replay, and installed IPTV on all 600+ TVs in the stadium. New sound system too.
Image via Baltimore Orioles
The 5,000-pound clock on top of the scoreboard was also refurbished with a new mechanism, clock face, and neon lettering. Nice that they kept it.
Our Take
The board looks great. But we think some teams are getting a little trigger happy with scoreboard sizes across baseball. It's starting to feel like an arms race.
Baseball is an old-fashioned sport, and that's a good thing. The brick warehouse beyond right field at Camden Yards matters more than any screen. The Orioles get away with this upgrade because Camden Yards is already one of the most beautiful stadiums in America. The scoreboard fits the park instead of taking over.
This is part of a $135 million first phase of upgrades funded through Maryland's $1.2 billion commitment to Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. Everything was ready for Opening Day against the Twins on March 27.
We just hope the scoreboard doesn't become the main attraction. At Camden Yards, the ballpark should always be the star.