Photo credit: Pat Radigan / Footy at 5280
Project on target for 2027-28 season
One more ugly chapter of Colorado Rapids history is set to be put to rest.
At a fan forum reserved for season ticket members right before last week’s match against CF Montréal, club president Pádraig Smith and Rapids chief business officer Haley Durmer spoke and took questions from the club’s most invested fans. The hottest-ticket item was the video board, which he said will be updated next year alongside supporting LED displays.
The scoreboard was unsurprisingly a hot topic, and Smith prioritized it in his opening statement before taking any questions. He said the scoreboard and surrounding fascia — the strip displays around the stadium at concourse level — will be updated and are on target to be ready for use by the 2027-28 MLS season, the first of the new fall-spring schedule format after the 2027 sprint season.
One of the first things one notices at DSGP is the numerous faults on the video board, including a number of distractingly discolored pixels almost too high to count. The board’s condition has become a recurring source of frustration for Rapids fans, particularly as other MLS clubs have invested in modernizing their stadium technology.
The planned video board replacement comes during a period of increased investment in the Rapids’ roster, including record transfer fees paid and received by the club over the past year and a half.
The video board was installed when DSGP opened in 2007 and currently features Dick’s Sporting Goods branding. The stadium’s naming rights agreement with Dick’s Sporting Goods is scheduled to conclude after the 2026 MLS season. Over the past few years, outdated hardware made repairs difficult to impossible.
The club is exploring all possible options for the next naming rights partner, which includes the possibility of renewing Dick’s Sporting Goods or moving onto a new partner. The club’s two biggest partners in recent years have been UCHealth and, as of this season, Kiewit, albeit as kit sponsors. That doesn’t necessarily mean either will be the stadium’s new naming sponsor.
There are other LED displays that need updating, including the field-level advertising boards and the small scoreboard above Dale’s Bar.
The Rapids’ planned project comes as other MLS clubs invest in larger and more modern video boards.
Two other MLS original clubs have recently upgraded, or are in the process of upgrading, their stadium video boards. LA Galaxy introduced an updated 36-foot high by 128.5-foot wide video board at the beginning of this year at Dignity Health Sports Park, which upped its quality to 6.5 million native pixels for a resolution “158% greater than previously.”
As part of its $182 million stadium renovation which started last year, FC Dallas’ Toyota Stadium will install the league’s largest scoreboard at a soccer-specific venue, measuring at 6,000 square feet. For comparison, the Rapids’ current video board is just above 1,200 square feet.
This article will be updated with more information as it comes.
