Field of screens
Illinois is on a run. The size of its new scoreboard is a bet that the team will win many more football games.
LSU will not win this year’s national championship for college football’s largest scoreboard. Before the season has even begun, Illinois has secured the title, unveiling a 17,315-square-foot screen—the equivalent of 1,621 60-inch televisions.
By that measure, Tiger Stadium’s scoreboard is a punt on first down. LSU unveiled its 5,624-square-foot display in 2024, as part of the stadium’s centennial celebrations. Though twice the size of its predecessor, it falls well short of the ten largest screens cataloged by Daktronics, the leading maker of these electronic behemoths.
The Southeastern Conference’s biggest belongs to Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium. At 10,690 square feet, it ranks second nationally. Of SEC teams, Oklahoma is eighth (7,803 square feet), Mississippi State is ninth (7,777 square feet), and Texas A&M rounds out the top ten (7,635 square feet).
At least Illinois’s monster screen will not be squandered on a mediocre Midwestern team. The Illini have won a school-record 19 games over the past two seasons, ensuring that their enormous new attraction should receive some screen time on smaller televisions across the country.