The Miami HEAT partnered with Daktronics to engineer, manufacture and install the first-ever Flame Ball centerhung scoreboard at Kaseya Center in Miami, FL. The logo-shaped LED sculpture is a part of 61 LED displays delivering more than 11,000 sq. ft. of digital canvas to the live event experience in 2024. The system is a 585% increase from the previous displays and features 72 million pixels powered by Daktronics Show Control.

“Our new scoreboard is a marvel of modern technology bringing a significant increase in both the size and number of screens visible to HEAT fans,” said Eric Woolworth, president of The HEAT Group’s business operations. “The flame ball itself is an impressive piece of visual art that is going to revolutionize many aspects of our in-arena experience for fans and partners alike. Our friends at Daktronics have outdone themselves and we’re forever grateful to them for helping us bring this unique project to life.”

The entire centerhung features 55 million pixels and 7,440 sq. ft. of digital canvas. That is 1.5 times the square footage of a basketball court and would take 697, 60-in. televisions to cover the entire centerhung. The Flame Ball features 2,525 sq. ft. of LED canvas at 2.5-mm pixel spacing to bring the Miami HEAT’s 3D logo sculpture to life in the middle of the centerhung configuration.

“Building first-of-its-kind creations using LED technology is something that drives our company forward and excites our employees,” said Daktronics president and CEO Reece Kurtenbach. “Bringing this iconic sculpture to life for the Miami HEAT, Kaseya Center, and their audiences is a great engineering feat that we are proud to have accomplished.”

The Flame Ball is at the center of the system that hangs above the court inside the arena. Four centerhung video displays face each direction of the arena, each measuring 19.5 ft. high by 29.5 ft. wide and featuring 2.5-mm pixel spacings. Two upper rings circle the configuration above the main video displays. Each ring measures 4 ft. high by 213 ft. in circumference and features 3.9-mm pixel spacing.

On the underbelly of the centerhung, four displays measure 10 ft. high by 21 ft. wide and feature 2.5-mm pixel spacing. These displays are angled toward the edges of the court to appeal to those sitting closer to the action.

The Flame Ball, ring displays, and main video and underbelly displays are on three separate hoists to raise and lower the configuration as needed to accommodate the multiple events hosted by the Kaseya Center.

Installed in 2023, four corner displays supplement the new centerhung system. Each measures 17 ft. high by 44 ft. wide and features 5.9-mm pixel spacing.

Event floor clock, basket stanchion, and vomitory displays were also added to Kaseya Center, all featuring 2.5-mm pixel spacing. Four basket stanchion displays each measure 1 ft. high by 1.5 ft. wide, 12 event floor clock displays each measure 3 ft. high by 5 ft. wide, and 30 vomitory displays above the entrances and exits of the seating bowl range from 1.5 ft. high to 3 ft. high by 5 ft. wide to 11.5 ft. wide.

These displays allow for additional game information, graphics, and animations, and the opportunity to highlight sponsors throughout events.

Daktronics is also including a complete Show Control solution including Camino with this installation. This control system provides a combination of display control software, video processing, data integration, and playback hardware that forms a user-friendly production solution. The addition of Camino to the control system will provide a new level of functionality to create dynamic, real-time rendered content never before possible in a Daktronics system, according to the company.