Texas Motor Speedway unveils world’s largest HD screen

It’s everything you would think about a video board located in Texas. It’s not just big; it’s gargantuan.

In fact, the new big screen at Texas Motor Speedway is 9,000 square feet larger than the video board located nearby at Jerry Jones’ palace, AT&T Stadium, and at 218 x 94.6 feet, is now the largest high-definition video board in all of sports. Weighing 108 tons, it is twice the size of two jumbo jetliners, and nine Alamos could fit within the screen.

Appropriately named “Big Hoss TV,” the idea was conceived by TMS track president Eddie Gossage following the 2011 installation of a giant board at Charlotte Motor Speedway, TMS’s sister track. And because everything in Texas has to be “bigger and better,” Gossage wanted a video board to fit the enormity of the 1.5-mile track.

“The infield at Texas is nearly four-and-a-half times bigger than the footprint of AT&T Stadium,” Gossage told SB Nation in an interview Thursday. “The bigness of (TMS) is both a blessing and a curse: It’s simple to build one of these things. You’re only limited by the amount of money you want to spend.”

Gossage wouldn’t disclose exactly how much “Big Hoss” cost, but said an estimation in the “tens of millions of dollars” would be fair.

The equivalent to a 12-story building and featuring 4.8 million pixels and 281 trillion colors, the video board was designed to counteract the increasing decline in attendance facing all sports, as home theater systems become more prevalent and affordable.

Why pay for tickets, parking, food, etc. to attend a sporting event when you can watch the action in front of your own HD television for a fraction of the cost?

“You can sit at home and watch the game on a big screen in your living room, so how do you combat that?” Gossage said. “I would argue that nothing compares to attending an event like our NASCAR races live and in person.

“But the way to address (declining attendance) is by putting in a screen that by comparison, is bigger than the ones you have at home, better than the ones you have at home and you get the live feel, too.”

Located on the backstretch at Texas, “Big Hoss” debuted Wednesday in front of a crowd that included NASCAR president Mike Helton, IndyCar CEO Mark Miles, drivers Kyle Busch and Helio Castroneves, as well as Willie and Korie Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame.

TMS isn’t planning on any special events solely featuring its video board. Instead, the track views “Big Hoss” as something that can further enhance its two NASCAR races, the annual June IndyCar Firestone 600 and other events.

During race weekends the plan is to show movies like Days of Thunder, and in April on the Saturday before its Sprint Cup date, Gossage hopes to be able to broadcast the men’s Final Four being played at AT&T Stadium.

Another possibility down the road is staging a college football game, much like Bristol Motor Speedway will do in 2016 when it will match Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee.

When TMS was constructed, it was designed with football in mind and is why the track has a double dogleg on the front stretch, which can accommodate a full-length field. Ten years ago, Gossage had discussions with Oklahoma and Texas about hosting the Red River Shootout. Oklahoma officials were receptive to the idea, while Texas administrators were not.

There is no giant remote operating “Big Hoss.” The video board is operated via a control room with “miles and miles” of fiber optic cables and a director in charge. And unlike how television covers motor sports, there will be limited widescreen angles integrated.

“We’ll use shots that are tighter, closer to ground level,” Gossage said. “Because if you want a wider shot all you have to do is look up.”

And in case “Big Hoss” has technical difficulties?

“We went ahead and got that 12-month warranty Best Buy offers,” Gossage said. “They send the Geek Squad out if we have a problem.”