Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning's image loomed high over last year's Super Bowl in Miami on the world's largest video screen. When Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hosts the game in 2011, he'll have bragging rights to an even bigger one.

The $1 billion retractable-roof stadium Jones is building in Arlington, Texas, for ``America's Team'' includes a center- hung, high-definition video board 50 feet (15 meters) high, the same as the one in Miami. It will be almost 50 feet wider, stretching 180 feet along the field. Jones says he wants the display to be ``awe-inspiring.''

Technology in National Football League stadiums has come a long way from scoreboards spelling out ``Go Team!'' New venues being built by the Cowboys, the Colts and the Super Bowl-bound New York Giants (with the Jets as partners) will have the latest and biggest high-definition video screens. The teams aim to keep fans' attention and generate more revenue from sponsorships.

``It's very important for us to be sensitive to how sophisticated young people experience the distribution and delivery of media,'' said Steve Tisch, co-owner of the Giants, in a phone interview. The team is building the shared stadium with the Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ``Fans can't be tricked with smoke and mirrors. What we offer has to be legitimately cutting-edge. It has to have that `WOW!' factor.''

The Giants-Jets and Cowboys stadiums will have hundreds of high-definition screens everywhere, from above the playing field and in luxury suites to concession stands and restrooms. Spokesmen for the three teams said they didn't yet know the cost of the video screens or how much revenue they may generate.

In-House Network

The Giants-Jets stadium will have 18,000 square feet of video screens, in addition to a seating capacity of 82,500, the NFL's second-biggest after the Washington Redskins' building, The Cowboys will use 20,000 square feet of video display for 80,000 spectators in the third-biggest stadium.

The Giants-Jets stadium, to be ready for the 2010 season at a cost of $1.3 billion, includes an in-house television network that will transmit high-definition video to about 2,500 screens. The broadcasts will include the game on the field, other NFL games and even commercials. A wireless broadband network will send video to mobile phones and handheld displays.

The technology provides the flexibility to change the shared stadium to Jets green from Giants blue, depending on who's playing. The teams don't have to switch banners or bunting; they just change the video feeds.

Other professional sports are installing larger screens with higher resolution in more places, said Mark Steinkamp, marketing and sales support manager for Daktronics Inc., a maker of scoreboards based in Brookings, South Dakota. The company says it sold $433 million of scoreboards and other displays in 2007.

Generating Revenue

The company is installing a display for Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks that will be 136 feet high, eight times larger than the stadium's current board. It will show video, scores and graphics. It's also building an $11 million video and scoring system for the Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium, scheduled to open this year. The project includes two 97- by 37-foot screens on scoreboards.

``The ability to generate revenue comes into the picture,'' Daktronics' Steinkamp said in a telephone interview. ``The great thing about digital technology for the sponsors is that it really provides a moment of exclusivity. You can turn the whole stadium into an advertisement for FedEx or some other sponsor -- really decorate the whole stadium for 30 seconds or so.''

The Giants-Jets stadium will have four 130- by 40-foot video boards, one in each corner, that will be sold to the highest bidders. Each ``cornerstone partner'' receives the rights to put a name on a screen and the use of 5,000 square feet of space with a patio directly underneath.

Washrooms and PDAs

``That, plus the necessity of changing the building from one team to another, set the tone for a big commitment to video,'' Jets President Jay Cross said in a telephone interview. ``Once you make that commitment, now you start to run wild with it. How can we push video into suites, elevators, washrooms, people's PDAs?''

Jets owner Woody Johnson said the new technology offers unprecedented opportunities for the team's sponsors.

``Their messages will be integrated in a way that's never happened,'' Johnson said in a telephone interview. ``Their logos and products will be visible as people enter the stadium, within the stadium, and in the bowl itself. The only limitation will be the creativity of the producers.''

Jones says he wants the Cowboys' brand associated with the latest and best technology in ``one of the most visible buildings we have in this country.'' And he wants to draw fans into the new stadium and away from another video screen -- the one at home.

``One of our biggest competitors in sports is our own television -- the way we present our games away from the field,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 28, 2008 00:23 EST