Updated Digital at Allen ISD Provides Bigger Opportunities

With an enrollment of more than 21,000 students, Allen ISD has to think big. Of course, Texas is known for going big when it comes to athletics, but Allen ISD strives for academic excellence.

That’s why they recently upgraded their 12-year-old Daktronics video board in Eagle Stadium, the outdoor facility they use for football, boys’ and girls’ soccer, graduation ceremonies and more.

“The infrastructure of the previous board, due to its age, no longer provided our A/V students an experience like what they might find at a college or university,” Allen ISD Communications Officer David Hicks explains.

“Now students have state-of-the-art technology at their fingertips that can lead to university or work experience.”

Updated technology provides more opportunities

Kyle Juntunen runs CTE audio-video classes, including developing a stadium crew of about 12 students each year. These paid student positions run everything from the cameras to replay. Juntunen also plans to have students create more content this year by incorporating FrameWrx, Daktronics content design platform that provides professionally created templates specifically for video displays.

“Most of my stadium crew kids leave job ready,” Juntunen says. “A lot of them are working in stadiums when they go to college, and some work locally with some of the smaller sports teams. One or two are with Rangers broadcasting, one with the Dallas Cowboys, and one with Sooner nation.

“The latest technology will make it more likely that they can use the same equipment in the world. They’ll have more hands-on opportunities now.”

Juntunen says it’s about more than education. Being on the crew provides students an exciting way to get involved in a team environment and gain social experiences.

“I had a student that felt like they were missing out on a lot of social opportunities,” he says. “They joined the crew their senior year, and that was the first football game they’d ever attended. It was cool to watch them experience that and focus on what they wanted to learn along with the Friday Night Lights their friends had been talking about.”

Generating revenue for the long term

The district is using sponsorship dollars to help fund the replacement video board, and to generate revenue for other educational opportunities. They worked with Daktronics Sports Marketing to complement their already robust marketing program. Allen ISD currently offers three-year sponsorship contracts at $25,000 per year.

“We work hard to keep sponsorship relationships strong, with video programming on the board, signage in the stadium, providing opportunities to set up a table or kiosk in the stadium, and even inviting them up to the press box for games” says Hicks.

“Having a quality video board makes a difference,” he adds. “Sponsors expect a certain value, and you need to showcase their brand the right way, or they may decide to spend their advertising dollars elsewhere. In these days of tighter school budgets, having an opportunity to generate revenue is more important than ever.”

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