Scoreboard for new Rogers Place will be largest in the NHL

It's big. Massive in fact.

The scoreboard at Rogers Place arena measures 46 feet wide, 46 feet deep, and 36 feet high.

It weighs 90,000 pounds, the equivalent of 23 Ford F-150 trucks.

It will be the largest, true high-definition scoreboard in any National Hockey League arena.

"Wow, that's incredible." That's the reaction Vernon Mason expects from fans when Rogers Place opens in September and they get their first look at the scoreboard, estimated to be four-and-a-half times larger than the current one in Rexall Place.

Mason is director of production systems and services and lead technology consultant on the scoreboard project.

"Certainly the fan experience will be taken to a whole new level," he said Monday in an interview.

The scoreboard will feature a main, high-definition replay window, which is 38 feet by 22 feet, with virtual scoring and penalty information below and crowd pumpers and sponsorship signage along the top.

The huge thing will be at an angle that will be difficult to see for players and those sitting in the first three rows. Mason said they've taken care of that by adding LED boards on the bottom.

The scoreboard was built in Las Vegas, then disassembled and shipped to Edmonton. Pieces started arriving May 6 and assembly has been underway since.

Fan experience main priority

The American company, Prismview Yesco, built all the elements, Mason said, from the structural steel to the LED components.

"They're really one of few companies in North America that can do everything A to Z, and they're definitely a technology leader," he said.

Many scoreboards in the league have non-essential decoration, but Mason said this project was focused on the needs of fans.

"We wanted every aspect from a fan point of view to be exceptional quality-wise," he said.