SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Padres today announced details surrounding left field renovations at Petco Park for 2015. The centerpiece of the updates is a new high-definition video display system, which will be the third-largest in Major League Baseball. The installation plan for the new video board will include improvements to the left field seating area.
"This is the next phase of our multi-year plan to improve Petco Park," said Padres President and CEO Mike Dee. "The highlight of this year's updates will be the new HD video board, the first of its kind here in San Diego. This will significantly enhance the fan experience, while also providing the opportunity to update the left field seating area."
Video Board
Petco Park will go high-definition in 2015, with a state-of-the-art video board measuring 61.2-feet tall by 123.6-feet wide, covering 7,564.32 square feet, the third-largest in Major League Baseball, and the largest in the National League. The video board itself, provided by Daktronics, will be nearly five times the size of the current video screen (30-feet tall by 53-feet wide; 1,590 square feet), which has been in place since 2004, the inaugural season of Petco Park. The entire board can be run full-screen to show live action or video replays, or it can be split into sections for statistical information, graphics and animations.
In addition to the main board, there will be new LED ribbon boards spanning nearly 750 feet along the first and third base lines on the Toyota Terrace level (3.6-feet tall), as well as on the left field grandstand fascia (7.5-feet tall by 130-feet wide).
As part of this upgrade, Sony, a long-time Padres partner with deep San Diego roots and U.S. headquarters based in Rancho Bernardo, will provide a state-of-the-art HD control room, which will include in-house production, broadcast and entertainment systems. Also receiving a makeover are eight mini scoreboards located under overhangs in the seating bowl on the field level, as well as new 60" Sony TVs in the same areas, to give fans seated in the back of those sections better views.
This offseason's changes are part of an ongoing project and investment by Padres ownership to upgrade and improve the fan experience through new technology. Last year, in addition to an overhaul of the ballpark's audio system, the Padres installed a new high-definition video board at Park at the Park. New right field lower and upper LED ribbon boards were installed prior to the 2013 season.
New Video Board Specifications
Comparison to other MLB Video Boards
Seating
The video board installation will simultaneously allow for improvements to the left field seating area. Two new rows of 19-inch-wide seats (171 total seats) will be added to the front of the Left Field Lower Box spanning sections 126, 128, 130, 132 and 134. Season Ticket Members will have purchase priority for the seating in these rows. Additionally, the removal of 110 fixed seats from the back rows of these sections will allow for the creation of a space featuring barstool seating that either can be sold as individual tickets, or, depending on the game, can serve as a social space for fans to gather.
The Left Field Upper Box overhang will be recessed four feet and raised, in order to create better sightlines for the lower seating level. That structural change will result in the conversion of 192 existing seats to 111 barstool seats along two drink rails at the front of the sections (226, 228, 230), creating a new single-game experience in left field. These structural changes also allow for the new LED ribbon on the left field grandstand fascia, which will feature game information to be seen throughout the park.
Finally, the removal of 610 fixed seats from the top of the Left Field Reserved sections (226, 228, 230) will allow for the addition of a new social group space that can accommodate up to 270 people.
All Season Ticket Members whose seats are affected by the left field seating changes are being offered the opportunity to relocate their seats to the rows being added to the front of the Left Field Lower Box sections at their existing renewal price.
In part to allow for the construction of the new seating, the padded outfield wall in left field and left center field will be brought in approximately 34"-38" from where it begins in left field to the bullpen entrance in left center field. That same portion of the wall will be lowered to seven-feet tall, from its existing height of eight-feet.
Demolition is set to begin next week. All improvements to Petco Park are scheduled to be completed in time for the home opener on April 9 vs. the San Francisco Giants.
B-roll of the existing left field area, as well as of the renderings, has been posted on www.padrespressbox.com.
