In July of 2010, EverBank acquired the naming rights for the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, home of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Speculation ran within the Jacksonville sign community about who would make the new signs for the stadium. Brown Enterprises was already supplying signs to EverBank, having established a relationship in 2007 when we provided the lighted letters at the top of their corporate headquarters in Jacksonville. The Jaguars already had a different vendor for many of their signs. When the bid package was issued mid-August, the scope of work was huge, especially given the short time available before the season’s opening game. We decided to bid only on the signs that we knew we could manufacture and install in the available time, and placed our bid for the two permanent sets of lighted letters on the East and West Touchdown Clubs, leaving everything else to our worthy competitors. Our strategy worked, and we won the bid.
A project of this size normally has a 10 to 12 week time frame. By the time the project was awarded, we had just 6-1/2 weeks to prepare drawings, submit a working sample, engineer and permit, fabricate and install (2) two sets of individual channel letters. We hit the ground running. These are large letters. The “Infinity Sphere” symbol is 11 feet high, the “E” is 9 feet high, and the overall length of the letters is 88 feet across. The letters mount about 90 feet up on the building. The Jaguars had a Monday Night Football game scheduled for October 18th on ESPN, so the lighted signs had to be done by then. It was close, but the letters were up and ready in time for the game!
For the 2011 season, EverBank embarked on a second phase of signs. This time, the plan was to put signs on the South and North Scoreboards facing the inside of the stadium. Again we found ourselves in a competitive bid situation, and again we were fortunate to be awarded the contract.
A heavy duty crane was brought onto site and the Jaguar head was carefully removed so that installation of the steel support structures for the signs could begin. The head and the steel supporting it weighed 14,000 pounds. It was loaded onto a trailer in two sections, and moved off site for storage. We understand that there are future plans to reinstall the head on the stadium property as a decorative element.
The letters on top of the South Scoreboard are about the same size as those on the East and West Touchdown Clubs. The sign cabinet under the North Scoreboard is 14 feet high and 69 feet across. A local general contractor built and installed the steel mounting structures for the signs, and we coordinated with them on the design elements needed for the letters and sign cabinet. Of the four signs we supplied, the sign on top of the South Scoreboard turned out to be the easiest to install, even though it is the highest up. We simply used a crane to swing the letters into place and mount them to the steel structure. The sign under the North Scoreboard was more complicated to install. We had to build the sign in sections, lift them into the stadium with a crane, dolly them into position, and hoist each section up onto the steel support tubes. Once every section was on the support steel, they were pulled together, bolted into place, and all the proper electrical connections were made. The planning worked and the signs were installed on time.
Watching your signs light up on Monday Night Football, knowing it is a nationwide broadcast, is an amazing feeling. We are fortunate to be a part of the team responsible for the branding of EverBank Field and the excitement and energy that comes with being an active member of the Jacksonville community.
