Cookeville Football Video Board Moving Forward

The Cookeville High School Football Club will move forward with the installation of a new video board at Eddie Watson Stadium.

The School Board did require that all details need to be ironed out, and Attorney Dan Rader would need to look over the contracts involved with the project. The board also intends to contract a firm to oversee the project. Booster Club Member Christy Graves said the 32-foot board is controlled through an Ipad or laptop to keep scores, show hype videos, and even run instant replays and commercials. She said she would like the board to be ordered by April 30.

“Could I push it? For sure,” Graves said. “If I want my media department to be able to have enough time to play with it, see what they’re doing, make sure they understand it before the first game, which is the end of July, I really want it in there by the end of June to give them a month during the summer to do that.”

Graves said she believes the cost of some $300,000 would be paid off in just five years through advertisement revenue and sponsorships. Rader said that once erected, the Board of Education would own the board and be responsible for maintenance. He said the liability concerns need to be addressed before work starts.

“I’m really excited about this and I think it’s good, but there are a lot of legalities that we have to watch out for,” Rader said.

Graves said a company called Daktronics owns 70 percent of the market share for video boards at the high school, college, and professional levels and has been selected for this project. She said Daktronics would be paid in full through a loan bonded by private money with separate contracts digging for the base of the structure and handling electricity. She said neither of those expenses would be incurred by the school board.

“They offer our non-athlete media students a placement program that allows them to go to college for free or start making money right away in college through their program,” Graves said.

She said seven sponsors have signed soft agreements to pay $30,000 apiece over five years. She said the board would function as a billboard from 7:00am through 10:00pm when not being used by a sport.