Video scoreboard proposed for BHS football field

BRAINERD — A new video scoreboard could be in place at Brainerd High School in time for next year’s football season, and it could raise some money for future athletic needs, too.

The Brainerd School Board agreed on Tuesday, Dec. 10, to a proposal from the Brainerd Sports Boosters to purchase a Daktronics scoreboard and new audio system at no cost to the district. Activities Director Jack Freeman told the board the Sports Boosters would foot the bill for the scoreboard and audio system at a cost of $434,655 and donate it to the district.

Brainerd, he said, is far behind other area districts when it comes to technology at the football field. He showed photos of video scoreboards at schools like Alexandria Elk River, Detroit Lakes, Rocori and St. Cloud Tech.

“When our teams go on the road, this is what they see in opposing school stadiums,” he said. “And then they come back, and I hear, ‘When are we going to do this in Brainerd?’”

Freeman said he’s researched the matter over the past couple years after hearing feedback from the community. He looked primarily at the model used in Alexandria, as it includes a feasible way to earn revenue. The scoreboard would be surrounded by 12 sponsorship panels available for businesses to pay for advertising. Six panels along the sides of the scoreboard would be founding partner panels and sold for $15,000 a year under a five-year contract. Six smaller panels underneath the board would be sold for $12,000 under a five-year contract as community partner panels. And to make the contracts even more enticing, they would also include advertising panels around the two video boards in the main high school gymnasium and in the aquatics center.

“We’re trying to tie it all together so we’re not going out for multiple asks,” Freeman said. “We also thought it would help with negotiations and visibility, increasing the value of the ask.”

The panels would bring in $162,000 in revenue each year, paying off the cost of the scoreboard in the first three years. That money would go back to the Boosters and put in a separate account that could be used for capital projects in the athletic department.

“These would be your dream big projects,” Freeman said. “I want you to think about video boards in the stadium, lights at the softball field, a turf practice field with a bubble — those types of items.”

The district could find creative ways, he added, to pair the money with long-term facilities maintenance funds in the district to address existing athletic infrastructure needs. The long-term facilities maintenance money, though, can only be used for existing infrastructure and not for new builds.

Freeman highlighted the strong partnership the district has had with the Boosters for many years, noting the group is great at fundraising and has a proven track record and good reputation in the community. The Boosters would hold the money, but an agreement would be in place ensuring the money were to go back to the district in the event the relationship between the Boosters and the district were to sour in the future.

The project would be a great way to connect with the business community, Freeman said, and would not require the district to allocate staff time and resources — or tax dollars — to the purchase.

The existing scoreboard at the high school would be repurposed and moved either to the practice football field or Forestview Middle School, depending on the need.

Board member Randy Heidmann said he was all for the project.

“I just wish we had a math boosters club, a science boosters club, a reading boosters club,” he said. “... But this is absolutely fantastic.”

Freeman said he thinks there will be a lot of excitement in the community about the sponsorship opportunity. Board Chair Kevin Boyles joked there would only be 11 panels to sell, as Dondelinger Chevrolet — run by board member DJ Dondelinger — would undoubtedly take one.

“Stay in your lane there, Disco,” Dondelinger said as a tongue-in-cheek reply, referencing Boyles’s shiny, brightly colored shirt.

Board member John Ward pointed out that, while the revenue from this project would be used only for athletic needs, it could free up more of the district’s money for academic endeavors.

“From my perspective, it’s taking athletic needs and not having to compete with academic needs so that we don’t have the competitive kind of deal,” Ward said, calling the project a win-win.

Interim Superintendent Peter Grant reminded the board any of the funds generated would lie in the hands of the Boosters and could not be used for anything other than athletics. Board member Sarah Speer said while that’s a valid concern, it’s still money the district does not have right now and wouldn’t have for anything in the future.

Heidmann and Boyles both noted the optics of the project amid district budget concerns and making sure to clearly communicate with the community the money is coming from the Boosters and not from the district. Purchasing the scoreboard, Boyles emphasized, would not take away from any other financial needs in the district.

“I think that the narrative can be controlled correctly and communicated correctly on how this is working — repeated, forceful communication that this is sports boosters money, that we’re not reducing class sizes for third graders and buying a half-million scoreboard,” Boyles said, noting the construction of the scoreboard would come around the same time the district is working on its budget.

Ward reiterated the project would be positive for academic resources, as more of the district’s general fund could go toward those needs instead of athletic needs with the new revenue source.

Board members unanimously approved the proposal.

Freeman plans to begin securing sponsorships in January, to finalize contracts in April and to complete construction on the scoreboard in early July just in time for football season.

THERESA BOURKE may be reached at [email protected] or 218-855-5860. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DispatchTheresa .