Marathon OK’s video scoreboard

A closely divided Marathon City School Board has approved the purchase of a video scoreboard for the high school gym, which will cost the district about $100,000 more than a traditional board and allow local businesses to buy ads during sporting events.

Board president Jodi DeBroux cast the deciding vote at last Wednesday’s meeting in favor of a motion to accept a $242,879 package from Daktronics that includes a videoboard with a synced scoreboard in the main high school gym. Board members Ted Knoeck and Beth Seubert also voted in favor of the motion, with board members Lia Klumpyan and Paula Vesely voting no.

“I’m feeling that this room is quite torn this evening,” DeBroux said before a motion was made. “I will say that I am on the fence as well.”

A different option, at a cost of $133,504, would have replaced the scoreboard in the main gym with another standard board and also replaced the scoreboards in the high school’s auxiliary gym and at Marathon Venture Academy/Marathon Area Elementary School (four boards total).

By going with the videoboard option in the main gym, the board agreed to spend an extra $109,375 with the hopes of generating additional ad revenue from businesses that could display animations and short commercials during games. With the standard scoreboards, advertisers are limited to fixed signage.

The district will look to sign five-year advertising contracts with local businesses interested in running advertisements on the boards. So-called “super anchor” sponsors would be charged $7,500 to $10,000 per year. Daktronics believes the district could raise an estimated $230,000 in ad revenue over five years with the videoboard, according to superintendent Angela Woyak.

“So that option would certainly look at potentially covering the cost over five years for that entire package,” she said.

Woyak said the new videoboard in the main gym will get a lot of use, from volleyball and basketball games to wrestling meets and graduation ceremonies, allowing photos and videos of athletes and other students to be displayed during events.

Under the option chosen by the board, the district will be moving the two existing scoreboards from the main gym to the auxiliary gym, allowing it to purchase just two standard scoreboards for MVA/MAES, instead of four with the other proposal.

Both options included replacing the sound system and scoreboard at the football field and track for a total price of $73,000. A videoboard was initially considered for the outdoor field, but due to the relatively few athletic events taking place there during the year, the board decided against that option.

The new speaker system at the outdoor field will be able to project sound far enough in all directions to reach athletes competing in field events, while also avoiding an echo off the school building, Woyak said.

Woyak said the district was able to get some quotes from Nevco, a competitor of Daktronics, but they were not always comparable or fully inclusive of the total costs for installation.

“We’ve struggled to get information in a timely fashion, and to get information that would compare apples to apples,” she said.

Athletic director Curt Miller said Daktronics offers a five-year warranty on the videoboard, with the option to purchase a five-year extension, but he also noted that many of their boards have lasted beyond 10 years. The warranty covers any damage caused by inflatable balls, so if the district were to allow baseballs or softballs in the gym, it would likely want to buy a protective screen, he said.

Klumpyan questioned if the district could really rely on the amount of advertising money that Daktronics estimates will come in as the result of business sponsorships.

Woyak said Daktronics has a marketing plan for the district to follow when approaching businesses and offering them different tiers of advertising, which would also include banners.

“They came on site and looked at possibilities of where those might hang,” she said. “They were stunned by the fact that we have little to no sponsors hanging right now. I think there’s maybe one or two hanging in the back.”

Miller said the ad revenues estimated by Daktronics are “not guaranteed,” but the company based its numbers on Marathon City’s unique demographics and potential.

“It might be something that the businesses in our community are really excited to support,” he said.

Prior to last Wednesday’s meeting, the board had identified the aging sound system in the main gym as the top priority for replacement, followed by the scoreboards at MVA/MAES and the sound system at the outdoor fields. Miller said it’s often difficult to find volunteers to work in the main gym during games because the sound system doesn’t work consistently.

“Most importantly, we have some old equipment that has seen better days,” Woyak said. “It’s really about whether we want to engage in some large-scale sponsorships to help offset the costs of upgrading some of this equipment.”

Woyak said the timeline for installing the new scoreboards and sound systems will depend on the equipment availability and shipping time. With Daktronics estimating eight to 10 weeks for delivery, the district is looking to put in the new equipment in early November, between the fall and winter sports seasons.

Questions and concerns

Board members raised a number of questions regarding the logistics of running the videoboard and how the district will pay for it upfront.

When DeBroux asked about the amount of work that would need to be done in-house to run the videoboard, Miller said he spoke with the high school’s business teachers, who believe that teaching students how to market the sponsorships and program the board could be done as part of their classes. There would also be work-study opportunities for students who want to operate the board during games, he noted.

Vesely, however, questioned whether the videoboard was really a necessity for the district at this time, when all it really needs to do is replace its existing scoreboards and sound systems.

“I just don’t feel a videoboard is something that our district needs,” she said. “I have a hard time with that price tag and the what-ifs of generated monies.”

Woyak said she understands Vesely’s concerns and noted that district has the option of leasing the boards and “pay as we go” over the next five years, with a 5 percent interest rate.

Knoeck said he was “scared of the unknown” when it comes to investing in a videoboard, but he also sees the potential in raising more ad revenue and recouping the costs over five to seven years under the Daktronics plan.

“I trust that they’re good at what they’re doing,” he said.

As a former teacher, Klumpyan said she disagrees with the district spending so much money on a videoboard when it has more important academic priorities.

“That’s an enormous amount of money without anything going to our kids in the classroom,” she said. “There are a lot of things in the classrooms we need more than a videoboard.”

Miller said Marathon has always been a leader in trying new things, and he thinks that doing something to increase participation in sports could help academically as well.

“There’s such a strong statistical correlation between success in the classroom and participation in extracurriculars,” he said.

When it comes to paying for the Daktronics package, Woyak said the district has some money set aside to cover a portion of the cost, but not all of it, so she gave the board the option of either signing a lease agreement at 5 percent or financing the purchases locally using the district’s Fund 38, which includes all non-referendum debt.

The board decided to go with the Fund 38 option, as the district is likely to get an interest rate of around 4 percent from a local bank rather than paying 5 percent to Daktronics.

Seubert, who sells advertising for a living, said she believe Daktronics has a solid plan for recouping the extra cost of a videoboard.

“It does math out to me,” she said. “Again, do we need a digital board? It might be the better value if things math out this way.”

Other business

■ The board approved adjustments to the district’s open enrollment limits, allowing three additional students in four-year-old kindergarten and one more in fourth grade. This will leave 4K with a total of 36 students in three sections and fourth-grade with 46 students in three sections.

■ The board approved a trip to Cincinnati for the high school baseball team in the spring of 2026, similar to the one taken to St. Louis this past March. Coach Steven Warren said the trip will include five days of practice at the P&G Reds Youth Academy, plus a scrimmage in southern Wisconsin on the way back. The group, which is expected to include about 20 players, will also stop at the Indiana Hoosiers gym and the Indy 500 Motor Speedway on the way down.

■ The board approved the removal of two dead or dying trees in front of Marathon High School, at a cost of $2,500.

■ At the district’s annual meeting last Wednesday, district residents in attendance approved a preliminary property tax levy of $5.1 million for 2025-2026, an increase of 5.23 percent over last school year. The mil rate was tentatively set at $8.09 per thousand dollars of property ($809 on a $100,000 home), but the actual levy and mil rate will not be set until October after the district finds out its equalized property values, state aid and enrollment. Residents also voted to keep board members salaries the same this year at $85 per meeting.