The N.C. State Wolfpack unveiled a brand-new, $15 million scoreboard for their home opener Saturday against Notre Dame.
Mother Nature did not care. Lightning quickly did bad things to the scoreboard, resulting in a jumbled mess of pixels.
In a terribly ironic twist, one of the first messages the new Carter-Finley Stadium scoreboard failed to display was a severe weather warning urging fans to seek shelter.
NC State’s brand new scoreboard got struck by lightning and shorted out pic.twitter.com/9xZ7WN9r42
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) September 9, 2023
N.C. State later reported that the scoreboard had not been struck by lightning, but “is currently having trouble because panels shorted due to weather.” Somehow, that is less reassuring, that a news $15 million board stopped working because it got wet or something. More likely, a nearby lightning strike resulted in the damage.
According to NC State Athletics, the new video board was not hit by lightning. It is currently having trouble because panels shorted due to weather. There’s no smoke or (visible) damage to it indicative of a strike. Crews can’t fix now for safety reasons until the delay is over. https://t.co/mWFNGNSn1c
— Chris Lea – Sportscaster (@ChrisLeaTV) September 9, 2023
When it’s functioning, the new scoreboard will be one of the largest in college football. The Daktronics board is 7,121 square feet and boasts 6.6 million pixels and 75 audio speakers.
The sports world struck lightning quick (sorry) in responding to the N.C. State malfunction.
Big “Well Actually” vibes… I’m going with lightning because @WillBrinson said so and he is trusted source and I like his NFL podcast.
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) September 9, 2023
All that money and someone probably forgot to ground a wire.
— Brandon (@UNCgrad_99) September 9, 2023
There’s really nothing you can do if it was a direct hit. sometimes ground wires will even take a nearby ground hit and blow up your device from the *** end.
— critical_event (@critlcal_event) September 9, 2023
I get We’re dunking here, but that actually looks like it’s reinitializing. Portions of the screen are coming back on and the picture of filling in. Actually seems the lightning protection worked as intended and it’s recovering.
— Jeff Stoller (@jjstoller) September 9, 2023
Are they going to have to throw a giant sandwich bag over it every time it rains?
— Jason Blanton (@jasonsblanton) September 9, 2023
[Will Brinson; Photo Credit: Will Brinson]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.