When our friends at Summit Production Group, signage and decor experts for the sports and entertainment industry, asked if we would help develop the single largest seat kill promotion launched for an NCAA football stadium, we jumped at the opportunity.
Georgia State Stadium was originally built for the 1996 Summer Olympics as Centennial Olympic Stadium. Following the 1996 Summer Paralympics, the Olympic Stadium was reconfigured into the baseball-specific Turner Field, serving as the home of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball from 1997 until 2016.
After the Braves' departure for SunTrust Park in Cobb County, Georgia State University acquired Turner Field and its surrounding parking lots for a large scale expansion of the Georgia State campus, which included new private and student housing, academic, and retail space, in addition to the stadium redevelopment.
As Georgia State, which earned the 2017 Marcus Downtown Economic Impact Award, expands its footprint in downtown Atlanta, the new stadium has proven a key recruiting tool. GSU's ability to tout its own top-notch football stadium has given the university an edge in attracting athletic talent, who can now visit the field and picture themselves playing on it.
A Special Promotion
As a special promotion, Georgia State University officials decided to cover the 28 sections of the upper deck with a printed banner system that effectively kills those seats for use during home football games.
The 2019 homecoming win against Arkansas state was a perfect ending to an amazing week. Congratulations to GSU Football on another record-setting victory!
As planning and preparations began early in the year, final approvals for print production and installation came in late August, early September of 2019.
With a hard deadline for Homecoming week, we powered through the print production and installation. Each of the upper deck's sections measured 87 feet tall by approximately 45 feet wide, depending on the section. When printed and finished, each of the 28 custom panels weighed in between 200 and 250 pounds.
In total, we printed and installed more than 100,000 square feet of printed mesh banner material. That's the largest kill seat banner promotion installed in any NCAA university athletics stadium.
Gateway Graphics installation crew on the day of the reveal. Congratulations on a job well done.
GSU officials were ecstatic at the reveal of the finished project. "It was tough to imagine how it would look from the sketches and drawings, but once that the install was complete, the stadium looked fantastic!" said Cabe Flesher, President of Summit Production Group. "We couldn't be more pleased, and the Gateway Graphics, installation crew really brought in a winner!"
Special thanks to our design and production partners:
Specializing in signage and decor for the sports and entertainment industries. Aliso Viejo, California
Gateway Graphics
Commercial Graphics production and installation. St. Louis, Missouri
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