49ers Unveil Levi’s Stadium Renovations Ahead of Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup

The San Francisco 49ers officially unveiled the summer remodeling the team did at Levi’s Stadium in preparation for the upcoming season, the Super Bowl and the FIFA World Cup. At an event called Under the Lights on Aug. 7, the team invited fans, friends, and the media to see firsthand the changes to the scoreboard, team store and master control room that will enhance the fan experience this season, leading into the big events.

“Our goal is twofold – to create a home field advantage. We want to have that production value for the team on the field, our coaches that are looking up there for replays, for competitive advantage. We want to make this a loud operation. A loud venue for opposing teams to come in and hear,” said Laura Johnson, the senior director of game presentation and live events. “Then we also want to enhance the fan experience, including increasing the number of cameras that we have.”

Johnson and Ted Slominski, director of broadcast and AV, took fans on a quick behind-the-scenes tour of the new master control room that runs the show during all Levi’s Stadium events. The 49ers spent the past two years planning for this summer’s remodel, focusing on the latest and greatest technology.

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“We are truly 4k high dynamic range (HDR) from the lens on the camera, through the entire pipeline, all the way to the video boards, we have the largest 4k video, 4k workflow in the entire league,” said Slominski.

As an added easter egg, the control room has exactly 49 large monitors that the crews work off of on game days.

Crews have already used the scoreboards a few times. They debuted them at the Aug. 9 preseason home game against the Denver Broncos and also used them at the CONCACAF Gold Cup game in early July and the two Metallica concerts.

To say fans are excited is an understatement.

“I think it’s pretty cool. It’s all high-tech, quality equipment. So, I can only imagine what it could look like on TV,” said season ticket holder Alex.

“We own a business with cameras and everything, so it’s kind of nice to see all the new tech that’s come out, and how it looks, and how advanced those cameras are and all the screens,” said season ticket holder Adrian. “To have exactly 49 screens inside of that control room was pretty dope.”

For long-time 49ers fan Zach Piona, just being able to share in the excitement of a new season was worth it.

“I just moved back up from LA. So Bay Area energy is a lot different than LA energy. I like Bay Area energy a lot more,” said Piona.

But the person most excited by the changes might not be a fan, but a player on the field.

“It was important to get all the lights done for all of you, for all the fan engagement, but I will tell you that the person I couldn’t wait to get off my back was George Kittle,” 49ers’ Team President Al Guido told the crowd. “He has been bitching at me for years because in Iowa, they get to turn all the lights off when people score and things happen. And he asked me why we couldn’t do it. I said, ‘Well, George, we turn the lights off, it’s gonna take us, like, an hour to get back on, and the NFL won’t let that happen.’”

Not all the changes to Levi’s Stadium this summer were easy to spot. Some of the stands in the lower bowl corners were altered so that rows could be removed for the FIFA World Cup games. This was so the pitch could meet the correct sizing for FIFA World Cup games.