Kenny Perrotti

The school will be installing scoreboards like the one pictured in the coming weeks.

As students enter the large gym in the coming weeks, they will be met with the fresh sight of two brand-new, state-of-the-art LED video scoreboards — key upgrades that will especially benefit the athletic program.
With the addition of the scoreboards, the layout of the gym for games will also likely change — swapping the bleachers where teams and fans sit. 

In the current layout, fans sit on the far side from the gym entrance, but there is a major downside: During game action, fans must wait to go to those seats during game action because they must walk behind the basket to get there.

The new layout puts fans seats on the near side. This eliminates the need to wait for any plays to be over before spectators can enter the bleachers.
The smaller of the two digital scoreboards will be placed on the wall connected to the gym lobby, while the larger scoreboard will be placed on the opposite side, closer to the athletic training room and the library.

These kinds of digital scoreboards are rare in public schools; the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District recently became one of the few in the region to have access to them after Los Gatos High installed the technology on its campus last spring.

The installation at Los Gatos High came after a few years of planning by the school’s athletic director Kenny Perrotti, who had been looking to upgrade Los Gatos High’s facilities — mainly the gym and football scoreboards. Initially, Perrotti spoke to ScoreVision for a price estimate. But at a cost of $1.5 million, construction was not feasible without significantly increased funding, the kind that would likely come from local bond measures.

However, a year later, Perrotti found out about a new partnership between ScoreVision and Scoreboard Media, which would allow the district to acquire scoreboards for at no cost but with one major requirement: advertising.

The district requested both schools to receive the promotional two scoreboards — Scoreboard Media agreed, and the two parties entered a 10-year lease last October, with Scoreboard Media fully covering the purchase and installation costs for two LED scoreboards at each school. For its part, the district will pay for electrical upgrades, new shotclocks and annual subscription fees of around $7,000 to run the software on the boards.

To recoup their investment, Scoreboard Media raises ad revenue from national, regional and local advertisers by playing their advertisements on the boards at schools. Ultimately, the school administrators will have the final say in whether what kind of advertisements are aired and when they run.

Additionally, if the school refers a new advertiser, Scoreboard Media gives 20% of that revenue stream back to the school as commission. Leveraging this, Perrotti compiled a list of 150 referrals for companies that have sponsored Los Gatos High over the years.

“Minus the upfront costs on the infrastructure and the shot clocks, the system is going to end up being free in the long run,” Perrotti said. “They are not going to be an additional expense to my athletic department.”

The scoreboards will be controlled by two iPads — one to keep score and the other to run media, leveling up the sporting experience to the likes of professional games; new features include player intros, instant-replays, live streaming, video edits and graphics to enliven audiences.

“I think it really adds to the game day environment,” Perrotti said. “It allows us to connect what’s going on in the game with our fans.”
SHS started installation work in October. Assistant principal Matthew Torrens noted that several renovations had to be completed first, with the district paying thousands into gym infrastructure upgrades such as electrical work before the scoreboards could be installed.

Athletic director Rick Ellis intends to follow Los Gatos’ example in raising enough money yearly through advertisement referrals to completely cover the subscription fee. Ellis and Torrens are both looking forward to the variety of uses the new scoreboards can take on.

“We could potentially have students who are interested in visual design put together highlights from different sports,” Ellis added.

“Hypothetically, we could have the basketball program’s tournament in Canada or any away games live-streamed, and have fans come to the gym and watch it on the big screens real-time.”

Torrens also noted the impact the scoreboards may have outside of sports. The scoreboards could be utilized for rallies, presentations, robotics tournaments or for putting a spotlight on fundraisers and other SHS programs offered.

Perrotti, Ellis and Torrens have all emphasized the opportunity digital scoreboards provide to students who are passionate about media arts.

“This is going to open up opportunities for students that want to do some sort of media in college,” Torrens said. “You practice here and you will have the skills necessary to operate these scoreboards in college and beyond.”