New video and scoreboards will be installed at PHS with local business financing the project

“This is a slam dunk.”

Prescott School Board President Mike Matzek started off the sports idioms at the monthly meeting of the board Wednesday, March 30 in the Prescott Performing Arts Center.

The real MVP of the night was, no doubt, Ptacek’s IGA. Long the anchor of the Prescott community, the Ptacek family “stepped up to the plate” in a big way.

The board voted to approve a plan for a new score-

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A rendering of the scoreboard/videoboard and large video board that will be installed in the Prescott High School gymnasium under a program approved by the Prescott School Board Wednesday, March 30. Ptacek’s IGA of Prescott stepped forward to finance the cost of the project, with funds to pay for it coming from sponsorship agreements with local business. Photos courtesy of the Prescott School District VIDEO

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board and video boards in the high school gym and Laney Field that will allow advertising from local business sponsors that will pay the cost of the project over five years. Ptacek’s IGA is financing the cost of the project – $233,157 – at no interest to the district. That alone will save the district $20,000.

The district is lining up sponsors which will have logos and messages splashing on the video board in the gym. Seven have already come forward at a cost of $5,000 annually for the first five years. The district needs to find just 1-2 more, and Ptacek’s IGA has agreed to purchase up to three of the packages themselves to make the program a success.

Activities & Athletics Director Andrew Caudill said the genesis of the project was frustration in the fall when the aging scoreboard at the football field at Laney Field quit working.

At that time, he brought in Daktronics to help make the scoreboard operational. From that point on, a plan was formulated that Caudill said will benefit all the school’s athletic programs for years to come.

“I truly believe this project will be transformational,” he said. “The current football scoreboard just doesn’t work. It was a very challenging fall. Mr. Hoikka (Director of Buildings & Grounds Mike Hoikka) was a trooper trying to figure out what’s going on. We started talking to Daktronics, and they introduced me to the video board project and funding possibilities.

Several other Middle Border Conference Schools (Baldwin, Somerset and St. Croix Central) have a similar program in place.

The project will place a scoreboard/video board on one end of the high school gym. One side basketball hoop will be removed in the gym, and it will be replaced with a large video board. In addition, time/shot clocks will be installed on each of the main backboards.

“The gem of the project is one large video board in the high school gym,” Caudill told the board.

The cost of the large video board is $142,987. The smaller video board is $37,047, and the shot clocks cost $3,636.

“All the states around us have adopted a shot clock,” said Caudill. “We will have the capability when the state puts that through.”

The football scoreboard will be larger than the one there currently. Its projected cost is $13,875.

Caudill said that after year five when sponsor money has completely paid for the project, that $50,000 will be channeled into the sports programs, on an equal basis. He projected that $15,000 would remain in the main athletics budget, with the remaining $35,000 divided among sports teams.

“Starting in year six, there’s no more payments, which means athletics will benefit. That will be able to be transferred right to teams. It will take a lot of burden off individual team fundraising,” Caudill said. “This is transformational. This is not shortterm. After five years, there’s no more debt.”

“When I talked to the sponsors, they were really excited that it would benefit athletics,” said Caudill.

Board members questioned the lifespan of the board and repairs and warranty. Caudill said the boards have a one-year “bumper to bumper” warranty and then parts are covered for five years. After that time, the district would be offered another fiveyear warranty. It was noted that since Daktronics started offering the program to schools in 2011, all boards are still operational.

“We’ve got about 70 school districts in Wisconsin that have our digital displays. All 70 displays are still operational,” said Christopher Kretsch of Daktronics.

Superintendent Dr. Rick Spicuzza said that the district’s law firm drew up the agreement with Ptacek’s.

The scoreboard currently in place in the high school gym will be “repurposed” for use at the middle school.

For their monetary commitment, sponsors will receive signage on the football tower, in-game advertising at events held in the high school gym, an “in-game feature entitlement” during breaks in the action at girls’ and boys’ basketball games as well as logo promotion on the video boards, two event passes, a logo on game programs and in the weekly athletics newsletter and on the district website.

In addition to the commitment from Ptacek’s, other local businesses that have agreed to sign sponsorship agreements include Croix Insurance, Hudson Physicians, Cernohous Chevrolet, New Adventures Learning Center, Scenic Bluffs Dental and River City Stitch.

Board members were excited for the opportunities the program will open for the district’s athletic programs.

‘It’s not costing the district to do this. That’s the key,” said Board Vice President Steve Sizemore. “It really offers a lot to the district that we don’t have to pay for.”

“Kudos to you for talking this initiative,” Matzek told Caudill. “I’ve been to a lot of gyms that have this. It’s popular. To be costneutral to the district, it’s a slam dunk. Pardon the pun.”

Tanya Holub commented, “I want to highlight the great partners we have in this community. Ptacek’s has always been a great partner with our school district.”

Board member Pat Block questioned the size of the scoreboard and what’s going to be done to make it more visible for fans.

Caudill explained that replacement football scoreboard won’t have video capabilities, as those models cost hundreds of thousands of dollars alone. However, the new scoreboard will be moved to a location where it’s more visible after consultation with the football coaching staff.

“We looked at placement, and we’ll have to move it,” said Caudill.

“I want to make sure this board is big enough. I want to make sure it gets installed and people can see the numbers,” said Block.

Spicuzza said the district will get the specifications before the football scoreboard is installed.

“We do have an issue of timelines and supply chain, if we’re going to have this stuff ordered, shipped and installed,” he said.

“That’s something we can talk about,” Caudill said. “I feel good about it, but we’ll definitely take a look at it. It’s bigger than the current board.

The board unanimously gave approval to move forward with the equipment order and to start contracting with sponsors.