As expected, and in time for the next push to get a Super Bowl in Houston.
Not what they bought
The state-of-the-art digital scoreboards will be manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric’s Diamond Vision Systems Division and installed for the 2013 season in place of the current end-zone scoreboards.
County and Houston officials, as well as Texans owner Bob McNair, believe the new scoreboards, which will cost a total of $16 million, will enhance the city’s bid to host Super Bowl LI.
At the NFL’s May meetings in Boston, owners will vote on cities that will host Super Bowls L and LI. The Texans are a finalist for Super Bowl LI with the city that loses Super Bowl L — San Francisco or Miami.
Initially, McNair and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will pay for the scoreboards, but they will eventually be reimbursed from Reliant Stadium’s repair and replacement funds that are collected from the hotel-motel tax and long-term auto rental tax.
See here and here for the background. Now we wait to see if there’s a payoff to the investment.
It is asinine to think that a scoreboard is a deal breaker for Houston getting or not getting to host the Super Bowl. McNair has a free scoreboard, albeit over some time, that’s all that matters.