Daktronics LED screens for Euros host venue Matmut Atlantique

Held every four years, the UEFA European Championship consists of qualifying competitions, play-offs and a final tournament, and for the first time in its history 24 teams are contesting the title. Five of these important games are being played at the Matmut Atlantique, the largest stadium by the Atlantic sea. Opened less than a year ago, the Matmut Atlantique, also known as the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, has a capacity for 42,000 people.

Alain Castelbou, sales manager at Daktronics in France, explains: “This stadium is owned by the Vinci group together with the Fayat group. Its design is from one of the best architectural firms, Herzog & de Meuron. The renowned architects specialise in stadia and, amongst others, designed the St Jakob-Park stadium in Basel as well as the national stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in China. Naturally, a company like Vinci, which has privately owned stadia all over the world for over 30 years, demanded the best LED technology for this outstanding venue.”

Local installer Pekason was appointed to provide the two LED displays. Pekason teamed up with Daktronics to deliver the 70sqm, 15mm HD LED screens, hanging from the stadium’s roof, strategically placed on each side of the stadium. The roof has a singular rectangular shape and has been designed to shelter the audience from bad weather while also letting though the sunlight. Daktronics’ screens are engineered to be clearly visible in blazing sunshine and also withstand all weather challenges. The stadium has three configurations, suitable for football, rugby and concerts.

The bowl is organised around the playing field following a geometry that guarantees optimal visibility to the spectators, designed following an English-style topology. Games are broadcast on the screens with the assistance of Daktronics Show Control, which provides a combination of display control software, video processing, data integration and playback hardware.