SIGHTS & SOUNDS: The Milwaukee Brewers unveiled 14,800 feet of new LED scoreboards & expanded offerings at the Brewers Team Store with a brand-new custom jersey station! (via @jujuelz_is) #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/qoQwplWRyo
— 620 WTMJ (@620wtmj) March 25, 2024
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers home opener is just about a week away, and in anticipation, the Brewers reveal their newest additions to American Family Field: 14,800 square feet of LED scoreboards and an expanded Brewers Team Store.
Brewers President of Business Operations Rick Schlesinger told WTMJ the scoreboards they did have were falling apart and were first implemented over a decade go.
“This offseason we increased our centerfield display with a new board that’s more twice the size of the old board… We also added a new right field display that’s about 2,800 square feet,” he said. “We also have new LED boards at the dugouts at first and third base… It’s just a completely different visual experience.”
Schlesinger said these are the highest resolution boards in the MLB, and the mid-field board is the 5th largest in the league.
“There are plenty of opportunities to entertain fans when there’s not play going on on the field, and the displays are just one facet of the overall in-game experience,” he said. “You got music, concessions, staff, the cleanliness of the ballpark… everything we do to make the fan experience fun and safe, this is part of it.”
He said all of the different banners, boards and displays in the ballpark can also be synced during the games for big moments such as home runs and other crowd prompts.
“[All of the upgrades are] a game changer for us,” he said. “When you come into the ballpark, [fans] are really going to be mesmerized.”
In addition to the new scoreboards, Schlesinger said they also added 1,000 square feet for an expanded Brewers Team Store.
Senior Director of Retail Merchandizing Shaun Marefka told WTMJ this was to make the experience faster during games.
“We felt that during game days it was very difficult to get our customers to shop comfortably within our stores,” he said. “We took over a concession store… gutted that out… and put a line cueing system in there.”
They now have 12 different checkout stalls that is in a separate area from the apparel area, and the store also has other new additions as well for fans.
“We added a ‘Custom Corner’ that will allow fans to customize their jersey with their favorite name and number on the back,” Marefka said. “And we repurposed our hat wall that was once in the middle of our store [and] now is located off to the side.”
He said they’ve seen a 40% growth in their jersey sales year after year, so adding the “Custom Corner” allows for them to make jerseys on the fly at any time of the season. They also have another major change as well involving their tv technology upgrades in the store.
“We will no longer be printing player graphics in our store,” he said. “We’ll be using content from our jumbotron to promote our players in our store.”
Brewers President of Business Operations Rick Schlesinger told WTMJ:
“We’re trying to listen to the fans [and] make the experience as seamless and as fun, as safe and affordable as possible,” he said.
He said he’s still very excited for what the players will do on the field for the 2024 season as well.
“Lot of young players who we expect to have breakout seasons… Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Brice Turang, Jackson Churrio… these guys are the next generation of Brewers stars,” he said. “Some of them had seasoning last year, and that’s helpful because Major League Baseball is a very hard job… It takes time to acclimate and become a professional major league hitter, and these guys are capable of doing it.”
The Brewers play their home opener Tuesday, April 2nd versus the Minnesota Twins.
