New OT Boards Catch The Eye

Wednesday night's Barclays Premier League tie between Manchester United and Everton, broadcast across the globe, will be a world first as the club debuts the largest, brightest and clearest pitch-side electronic boards in football.

The new system, which surrounds three sides of the Old Trafford pitch, will make club messages crystal clear, both in the stadium and around the world on TV.

The pitch-side digital platform will be used to connect the fans to the club digitally, not only linking to social media activities, but also communicating key information.

This new system has been specially positioned at pitch-side so that the view of fans inside the stadium will be unaffected, despite the panels being the largest in Europe.

The crystal-clear quality will further develop the club’s strategy of single sponsor visibility, giving a premium and clean look whilst avoiding the need for jumbotrons or multiple displays within Old Trafford.

Sir Bobby Charlton said: “This development is consistent with United’s history of a pride in being the first in the world, and the best at what we do. While I am continually amazed at just how far around the world the coverage of our games goes, the work that is done by the club to communicate with fans both at home and abroad using the latest technology has to be good for everyone involved.”

Richard Arnold, group managing director, said: “With a global live TV audience of over four billion people a year in a billion homes on 80 per cent of the world’s TV sets, coupled with the most engaged social media footprint of any organisation in the digital world, this new, industry-leading system is another exciting platform to help us communicate with our 659 million followers. The power of direct, engaged social media communication, combined with two hours of the most-watched live television show in the world allows us to achieve things no-one else can.

“The larger and clearer system gives us a wonderful stage to promote the work of the club and the Manchester United Foundation and to deliver greater value for our commercial partners. It allows us to stay ahead of the rapid developments in this space, particularly with regards to the improvements brought by HD and now 4k pictures.

“Being the first football club in Europe to install this system shows our commitment to continuously enhancing Old Trafford and maintaining its legendary status as one of the world’s best matchday venues. This is the first of a series of innovative changes planned at the world’s favourite stadium and enhancing fan communication.”