9.4 million LEDs: New Daktronics scoreboard hoisted into place in new Milwaukee Bucks' arena

MILWAUKEE -- Very slowly, and very surely, another piece of the Milwaukee Bucks' arena puzzle was put in place on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

“Now you start to really picture what it’s going to look like," said Bucks Senior Vice President Alex Lasry.

Crews raised the massive Daktronics scoreboard into the rafters at what will be center court of the Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center.

“It’s one of the top 10 scoreboards in size in the NBA," Lasry said. "This will be a full HD scoreboard."

“It’s 25 feet tall by 29 feet wide on all four faces," added Daktronics spokesperson Matt Gregg.

In Milwaukee, that’s measured as 3.6 Giannis Antetokounmpo’s by 4.2 Antetokounmpo’s. At 3,922 total square feet, it is the largest equally four-sided scoreboard in an NBA-only arena.

The board will be lit for the first time in March, and beyond size, officials said fans will really notice the 9.4 million LEDs.

“We’ll be able to show new statistics," said Lasry. "We’ll be able to show in-game replays at a must crisper level.”

That cutting-edge clarity will give the game-ops crew significantly more options than with the BMO Harris Bradley Center’s 8-year-old scoreboard.

“You’re not able to do a lot of the new, diverse, creative things that a lot of NBA arenas are able to do," Lasry said of their current situation. "We’ll be able to start doing that in the new one, which to us is extremely exciting.”

Lasry said Jan. 16 the Bucks' arena was 80 percent complete -- with more than half of the seats installed. It is anticipated the arena will open on time and on budget this fall.