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factors that matter when bond issues 
come to a vote or when districts 
are competing to attract and retain 
families.
What Facilities Managers  
Should Ask Before They Buy
Not all LED scoreboard installations 
are created equal. Before recommending 
a vendor or approving a project, facilities 
professionals should push for clarity on 
several fronts:
•	 Warranty and service terms: What 
does the parts and labor warranty 
cover, and for how long? Is technical 
support available year-round, 
including weekends and holidays? 
Can the vendor provide remote 
diagnostics, or does every service call 
require a site visit?
•	 Installation timeline: How quickly 
can the installation be completed? 
Delays that push a project past 
the start of a sports season create 
real operational problems. Ask for 
LED Displays, continued
documented installation timelines 
from comparable projects.
•	 Training and ongoing support: 
Who operates the system after 
installation, and what training 
is provided? Software that’s too 
complex for staff to manage 
confidently will undermine the 
entire investment.
•	 Advertising management: If 
pursuing a sponsorship-based 
model, does the vendor manage 
advertising sales, or is that left to 
the school? A vendor who handles 
sponsorship outreach and contract 
management — as was the case 
at Notre Dame — reduces the 
administrative burden on district 
staff considerably.
The Facility Is the Message
Facilities managers understand 
something that doesn’t always make it 
into board presentations: the physical 
condition of a school’s facilities sends 
a message. A gymnasium with a 
dim, partially functional scoreboard 
communicates one thing. A bright, 
modern LED display — wrapped in 
community sponsorships, generating 
recurring revenue for the school, and 
connected to a live diagnostics system— 
communicates something very different.
Notre Dame Regional High School 
didn’t just get new scoreboards. They got 
a new revenue stream, a fully upgraded 
athletic facility, and a campus where 
every sport — every student — benefits 
equally. And they did it without spending 
a dollar of their own.
That’s a conversation worth having 
with your district leadership — and it 
starts with asking the right questions. 
About Digital Scoreboards 
Digital Scoreboards has been a single-source partner 
for K–12 and collegiate athletic display solutions since 
2014, offering LED video scoreboards, sponsorship 
management services (DS Media), flexible financing, 
and a student curriculum program (DS Academy). Learn 
more at digitalscoreboards.net.

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