The 2020 and 2021 NHL champions are spicing up the Amalie Arena, home to the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lighting, recently underwent a major video upgrade. The 20,000-seat multipurpose venue in downtown Tampa, FL, is also used for a variety of other sporting events, concerts, and live entertainment. The recent video upgrades include several enhancements outside the venue, including a large-format corner display on the arena’s facade, two LED ribbons, and several LED kiosks featuring themed content from SNA Displays.
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Owner representative and strategic advisor Sensory Interactive provided technology selection and procurement, documentation, and acquisition, and construction management services on behalf of arena operator Vinik Sports Group, selecting SNA Displays to provide 6mm and 10mm EMPIRE Exterior video display technology.
The LED corner-wrap display, well suited for 3D anamorphic content, measures approximately 40x98 feet (1,224x2,976 pixels) and faces Channelside Drive to the north and S. Morgan Street to the west. Façade-mounted above the Ashley VIP Lounge, the nearly 4,000-square-foot LED display employs a 10 mm pixel pitch and processes more than 3.6 million pixels. It replaced static signage, providing much more dynamic options for arena management.
A pair of 110-foot-long LED ribbons flank the stairs leading to Amalie Arena’s main entrance from parking garages along S. Morgan. The ribbons, which sport a 10 mm pixel pitch at a resolution of 144x3,360 pixels, overlook Ford’s Thunder Alley, a courtyard adjacent to the corner-wrap display that contains a taproom, a stage, and other pre-game amenities.
Finally, eight new double-sided walkup LED kiosks are staged throughout the venue’s exterior. Each vertically oriented 6 mm display is 7.10x4.9 feet.
The installation of the new LED displays were interrupted by Hurricane Milton, a powerful storm that made landfall near Tampa as a Category 3 hurricane.
“Installing several large LED displays and LED kiosks during Hurricane Milton was certainly a challenge,” said Kelvin Spencer, senior field service and installation manager for SNA Displays. “I’m proud of the work we accomplished under such conditions and the dedication of our field crews.”