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ROGERS PLACE – EDMONTON, ALBERTA
CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
SPORTS & LIVE EVENTS CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
Rogers Place Arena
The Rogers Place Arena in Edmonton, Alberta is home to the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. It is a newer arena, officially opening in September of 2016 after first being approved for funding in 2011. With 18,500 seat options ranging from lower-bowl and upper-bowl seats to theatre boxes and loge tables, this arena is sure to satisfy everyone’s seating preferences. When the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible to continue with normal hockey playoffs, the Rogers Place Arena was chosen as one of the two arenas for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. On top of hockey games, this arena is also used to host a variety of concerts—featuring artists such as Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Fleetwood Mac, and more—and live events, including Cirque du Soleil and stand-up comedy acts.
THE CHALLENGE
As a new arena, Rogers Place Arena required an entirely new, complete audiovisual system to ensure they provided an exciting, technologically advanced experience for all guests. The goal with this arena was to develop a state-of-the-art facility using the latest technology with the intention of wowing every guest that walks through the doors. To achieve this goal, Matrix Video Communications Corp. worked with the Rogers Place Arena team for years before the facility opened to devise an audiovisual solution that met every one of their requirements.
THE SOLUTION
The Rogers Place Arena contracted Matrix to supply and install two major audiovisual systems within their facility: a video production facility (VPF) used for broadcasting purposes and an internet protocol television system (IPTV) for digital signage throughout the building. To complete simultaneous jobs of such magnitude, Matrix brought in installers from six western Canadian offices to ensure we were using all of our organization’s resources.
The core components used for the VPF include: Imagine Communications routing, Ross switching and CG, Christie’s Pandoras Box, Xpression Tessera, and Blackcam specially designed track camera.
The VPF system allows the Video Production Control Room (VPCR) to receive audio and video feed from mobile production trucks, in-house cameras, satellite and/or cable boxes, the arena’s public address system, and local radio feeds. Once these feeds are received, the VPCR generates live video, instant replays, advertising, and other graphical information that it then displays throughout the arena across various media booths and the scoreboard. At the time of the installation, this scoreboard was the largest fully high-definition scoreboard in the NHL.
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Furthermore, this installation included the world’s first ever implementation of Xpression Tessera! Ross Xpression was usually used as a traditional Broadcast Character Generator/Graphics System prior to this installation. At Rogers Place Arena, we installed Xpression for this purpose, but we also modified it to provide graphics for all the new in-bowl LED screens. This was unusual because the in-bowl LED screens come in all shapes and resolutions, whereas traditional TV is a 16x9 rectangle. The solution was to add on a software module called Tessera, which unlocked Xpression’s extra capability and allowed the control room operators to adjust the images and send them to the main video screens as well as the oddly shaped and sized LED screens all from one centralized control interface.
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For the IPTV system, Matrix installed the following equipment: over 1,350 monitors and 715 digital signage heads.
These monitors were installed in all areas of the arena from offices and training rooms to all concourse areas. Some of these monitors were configured into seven different video walls of various sizes, the largest of which is an incredible 36-screen, curved video wall comprised of 55” ultra-thin bezel monitors. The digital signage heads send directed content to every screen in the facility. This content includes concession menus, paid-for advertising, live game feed, and more, which is all controlled from a centralized server. Switching advertisements, synchronizing the screens, and allowing for live game feed in any location have never been easier!
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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
“The team at Matrix have been a valuable vendor along every step of the way from design and engineering, testing and commissioning, and finally through training and service. Their combined experience in the Broadcast and AV industries was proven in their professionalism, attention to detail, and quality of work.” - Rogers Place Team