Seahawks president: New video boards coming to Lumen Field

Seattle Seahawks players warm up before playing the Chicago Bears at Lumen Field Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, in Seattle. The snow, which also hit northern California, came in record amounts. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Get

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SEATTLE - Seattle Seahawks team president Chuck Arnold said Monday that the team has plans to install new video boards on the north side of Lumen Field this year ahead of the start of the 2022 NFL season.

"If all things go according to plan -- and that’s with production, shipping, installation, those things -- we're going to have two new video boards in the north end of the building in 2022," Arnold said in an interview with Dave "Softy" Mahler on Sports Radio 950 KJR.

"They are going to be double the size of what you currently see there with the hustle boards on the east and the west side of the ‘Hawks Nest.’"

The stadium currently has three screens on the north end of the stadium: one atop the ‘Hawks Nest’ and then one on each side of the stadium that primarily serve as statistics boards during games.

"Everything seems to be on track so we're hoping to see those this year for the season," Arnold said.

Arnold said that there were challenges from a production standpoint because of the differing shape of the existing main video boards. The south end zone video board is a wider screen while the board above the ‘Hawks Nest’ is more vertical in orientation. The new enlarged side boards on the north end zone are expected to allow the team to adapt their game presentation to fit the new equipment.

"I think with two new horizontal boards at the north and the horizontal board at the south, you're going to see quite a bit of improvement in the show that we can put on," Arnold said.

Arnold said that even with the increased size of the new video boards, they wanted to preserve the view of downtown Seattle that exists through the open north side of the stadium.

In addition to the stadium alterations, Arnold said the team is working toward adding a set of throwback uniforms to their collection.

The NFL has numerous rules surrounding their uniforms and one such rule at served as a significant impediment toward developing throwback uniforms in the past. As a response to the concussion lawsuits directed at the league and a push at improving player safety, the NFL mandated a "one helmet rule" that required players to play and practice in the same helmet.

"For us to do a throwback with the blue helmet, it wouldn't have made a lot of sense," Arnold said. "You needed to have that second helmet with the silver."

Arnold said throwbacks would not be introduced for the 2022 season. The last change made to the Seahawks uniform combinations was the addition of their "action green" set as part of the NFL's Color Rush promotion for Thursday Night Football games beginning in 2016. NFL teams can only change their uniform sets once every five years. Additionally, Arnold said NIKE, the league's uniform partner, would need time to produce the new uniforms as well, both for the team and for retail.

"We’re getting closer. We won’t see it in 2022, but we are making progress. We know the fans are going to love the throwbacks," Arnold said.

The NFL changed the rule surrounding the "one helmet rule" last summer. While teams will be allowed a second set of helmets, they must be the same make, model and size as the player's primary helmet.

Other notes from the interview with Arnold:

The team is currently building a fourth practice field at their practice facility – the Virginia Mason Athletic Center – in Renton, Wash.
Arnold said to expect another person added to the team's Ring of Honor this year: "I think you are likely to see another one this up-and-coming season," Arnold said. "There are lots of worthy candidates, and I think we are going to go for another one this year."
Arnold said they didn't see any hits to their season ticket waiting list despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years: "We had a 97%-plus renewal rate over those periods of time," Arnold said. "We had our 154th consecutive sellout; that was the last game of this (past) year. And things are really strong from a sponsorship level and from a ticket-sales level."
The Seahawks went 3-5 at home last season as their home-field advantage has been less concrete in recent seasons. Arnold said they are looking at ways to alter the game-day experience in hopes of solidifying that advantage, which was once as strong as any home-field advantage in the NFL: "Coming out of a pandemic, we’ve got to kind of re-imagine of guest experience a little bit," Arnold said. "We’ve got to figure out what it’s like to continue that home-field advantage, and how we can make sure that we are exceeding our -- the 12s’ -- expectation every time they come to Lumen Field."

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