Designing for the Big Screen: Why Fan Experience Content Can't Be Made in a Dark Room
By Matt Coy, VP of Experiences — CUENTO Marketing
Across the world of sports and entertainment, I've lost count of how many times I've seen content that was never actually created for the screen it ended up on. A video board. An LED ribbon. An IPTV feed. Any of the video surfaces that live inside a venue during a game or a show. And when content isn't built and customized specifically for those large-format screens, it can go wrong fast.
Here's the root of the problem: editors and designers are often stuck in a dark room, in an office or at home, building content on a monitor they're sitting a foot away from. They never experience the venue. They never see their work up on the actual video boards. They never test it before someone calls it "final." That is a massive problem in our industry, and it's one that senior leaders need to take seriously.
Every Board Is Its Own Canvas
Every single video board and LED screen is unique to its venue. From the smallest arena with one modest video screen, to a building like SoFi Stadium with its gargantuan, double-sided Infinity Screen, completely different content requirements on each side, plus multiple levels of LED ribbon and custom-sized boards tucked into every corner of the building, no two venues are the same. Every facet of the game day experience is shaped by what the people making that content actually understand about the space they're designing for.
This means content creators, whether you're making a static graphic, an edited video, or a motion graphic animation, need to understand the venue. That means talking to the production staff who operate the building on game day. It means loading in and testing rough versions of your content on the actual boards before you ever lock a final file. Not after launch. Before.
Step Away From Your Monitor
Here's something simple that would fix a lot of this: step back. Literally. Walk to the opposite wall of your room. Get at least five to ten feet away from your monitor and really look at what you built. Ask yourself: is this what the fan is actually going to see, or is this only what I see when I'm sitting a foot from my screen making it? Content that looks sharp and detailed up close can completely fall apart from 200 feet up in the upper bowl. Design for the distance it will actually be viewed from, not the distance you're creating it from.
Content Should Create Energy On Purpose
Beyond technical accuracy, there's a bigger opportunity here: content built with intention creates energy. In an arena, a stadium, a ballpark, any venue hosting a live event, the content on those screens can be one of the biggest drivers of atmosphere in the building, but only if it's made with purpose, not just to fill space.
That energy multiplies when boards work together instead of in isolation. Today's show control and video technology allows every LED module in a venue from the main board, to the ribbons, and even a small board tucked above a stairway entrance to be synced together and treated as one grand canvas. If you're an editor, that means collaborating closely with your motion graphics team so there's a shared vision. If you're a producer, that means owning the complete vision across every screen. And if you're a VP or senior leader, that means understanding that every single board in your building is an instrument that can play in the same song, not a separate speaker shouting on its own.
You can see this executed at the highest level at the Super Bowl, where content isn't just built for brand consistency — it's built with a comprehensive, synchronized thought process specifically for that one game, on those specific screens, to build one continuous wave of energy through the building.
The Fix Starts With a Mindset
My work now as a consultant with Cuento Experiential has made it clear this isn't an isolated issue, it's a widespread one across our world of sports and game presentation. The good news is the fix doesn't require a massive overhaul. It starts with a simple shift in thought process from day one: understand your venue, design for your actual screens, test before you finalize, and think about every board as part of one connected canvas.
That mindset alone can turn a disjointed game day into a genuinely comprehensive, engaging experience for every fan in the building.
Matt Coy is VP of Experiences at CUENTO Marketing. He consults with sports teams, leagues, federations, and major events on fan experience strategy, assessment, and implementation. He also serves as a fractional VP of Game Presentation for select clients.
