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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) -- The Fighting Illini are less than one month away from kicking off their 2026 season, and the largest video board in college football history is nearly complete.
Announced in January, the board is more than 6,000 square feet larger than the next biggest college display at Auburn University in Alabama.
“It's almost 3.5 times as big as the video board at Soldier Field,” said Illinois Deputy Athletic Director Tom Michael.
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If you laid the 69-by-250-feet video board flat on the football field, it would stretch all the way from the goal line to the 23-yard line and out to the bleachers.
It’s 17,000 square feet -- the equivalent of more than 1,600 60-inch TVs.
With other new video ribbons going up around the stadium, the entire project brings nearly 27,000 square feet of high resolution video to Gies Memorial Stadium.
“Because of the enormity of it and what's all going on in the background there's no doubt it will be a shock to teams that come in here,” said Michael.
Michael said the orange-and-blue are practicing with the display on so they can get used to it.
“We'll continue to do that through camp as much as we can,” he said.
He said more than anything, it’s a testament to the team’s recent success.
“We really want to reinvest in our fans and the loyalty that they have shown in the program, and it also says that this is where the program is at, and that it deserves this kind of investment,” said Michael.
Fans have their first chance to see it in person Saturday night at 7 p.m. for the team's “Busey Bank FamILLy movie night.” For more details click here.
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