6 Sports Venue Signs Deserving a Standing Ovation

FROM LOCAL ARENAS to national stadiums and everywhere in between, sports venue signage is a winning formula. Creating these types of signs really makes an impact, both for the venue and the signmakers, who often see a boost in business via return clients and referrals. Plus, the work is fulfilling. “Working with sports venue clients allows us to blend creativity with storytelling, creating spaces that evoke pride and excitement,” Matt Smith, director of marketing for Dimensional Innovations (Overland Park, KS) says. “It’s rewarding to see how our work contributes to the spirit of the game and enriches communities.”

Feeling Pucky

Wanted: A turnkey solution combining design, brand activation and build capabilities to create a multi-purpose facility reflecting Ed Robson Arena’s rich history and the future ambitions of Colorado College Athletics’ hockey program. Dimensional Innovations (Overland Park, KS) to the rescue. Matt Smith, director of marketing, says they designed and fabricated exterior and interior signs, wayfinding systems and donor recognition elements that ensured durability and visual impact to align with the arena’s aesthetic and functional goals while Sign Shop Illuminated (Colorado Springs, CO) helped install the signage.

Perfect Panel Printing

When the town and county of Rocky Mountain House and Clearwater needed new large logos installed, they called Trimline Signs & Graphics (Rocky Mountain House, AB, Canada) having been long-time supporters of the signshop, owner Louise Fischer says. Much pre-planning and measuring went into mapping out the windows to print the perfect panels. The shop chose a print media with clear adhesive with a strong laminate for longevity so the logos could shine through the glass on the inside. Trimline printed the panels on an HP Latex 700W.

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Big Time

Got an idea for a wall mural but not sure how to accomplish it? SpeedPro Affinity Solutions (Sarasota, FL) can take just about any idea and make it into a reality — pivoting from an original idea of athlete silhouettes with a company name to just sports balls to avoid obtaining naming rights permits. President Steve Rowe says SpeedPro produced the wall mural, using 3M IJ180 vinyl with a matte laminate made glossy after applying a heat-roll finishing step. The graphics were printed on an HP Latex 560 and cut on an ESKO Kongsberg X24.

Heavy Metal

CEO/Owner Derek Atchley of Atchley Graphics (Columbus, OH) says his shop is no stranger to sports venue signage, having worked both directly for clients and for other graphics, print and signage firms around the country that seek them out to install non-electric signage and wide-format prints. Such was the project work of creating and installing a set of large dimensional metal lettering at the Marv Moorehead Memorial Stadium (Upper Arlington, OH) consisting of a series of ¼-in.-thick solid aluminum, laser-cut-and-polished letters installed with stud mounts.

Fan Proof

For the 2024 College Football Playoff signage, Scott Mueller, national sales director of Trademark Visual (Phoenix), says they had an unusual build request: the ability to handle flying objects. And no, we’re not talking UFOs. We mean bottles, liquids, food and other items fans may throw. “The client hired us because of our attention to detail as these pieces are viewed closely and have to stand up to anything that fans can throw at them!” Muller says. To that end, they used ¼-in. aluminum for the faces/returns/backs of the characters with structural supports inside each, building several sets of these every year ranging from 5 ft. to 20 ft. tall.

Ice, Ice, Baby

For more than 30 years, Outlaw Graphics (Brookings, SD) has worked on sports venue signs in high schools, colleges and sports complexes. To create the Rangers Hockey wall graphics for the local Brookings Ice Skating Association that showcase athletes and state championships, Outlaw incorporated 3M IJ180Cv3 vinyl and relied on their Roland DG TrueVIS VG3-640 64-in. eco-solvent printer/cutter. Outlaw’s Owner Terry Nemitz says the project wasn’t without its challenges, like working in the cold around a sheetrock wall and a scoreboard cabinet with graphics varying in height and with different bump-outs varying in depth.

PHOTO GALLERY (24 IMAGES)

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