The Daily Gamecock

Athletics unsure what caused new video board at Williams-Brice to black out Saturday

The new $6.5-million Williams-Brice video board goes dark during the Georgia game.
The new $6.5-million Williams-Brice video board goes dark during the Georgia game.

Daktronics will send technicians to look into issue this week

 

Something eventually worked for Williams-Brice Stadium’s massive video board Saturday night, but no one’s quite sure what went wrong.

Midway through halftime of South Carolina’s defeat of then-No. 5 Georgia, the $6.5 million, 36-by-124 foot screen went dark — and it stayed that way until the fourth quarter.

By then, a pair of technicians from Daktronics, the company that built it, had tried rebooting it until it came back, washing the stadium in a bright green light, according to Kevin O’Connell, USC’s Athletics chief operating officer. The company sends local technicians to each home contest.

But they weren’t able to figure out why it went down in the first place, O’Connell said.

Daktronics will send a team of technicians to inspect the board this week, O’Connell said, and though he wasn’t sure how much the repairs will cost, Daktronics will pay for them, he said.

Saturday was just the fourth home game of the video board’s inaugural season, and the fact that it has broken down already is a concern for upcoming contests, O’Connell said, adding that he was “disappointed” with its performance Saturday.

It’ll be used next when the Gamecocks play Tennessee at Williams-Brice on Oct. 27.

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