This put up is a part of a collection sponsored by Outdated Republic Surety.
A serious league ballpark could be a feast for the senses, from colourful fan gear to a tasty barbecue sandwich. There’s all the time loads of motion down on the sphere, however guests wish to be entertained within the stands as effectively.
That’s why stadiums are using state-of-the-art video expertise to reinforce their followers’ game-day expertise. A living proof is PNC Park, the house of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In 2022, PNC Park determined to improve its video manufacturing tools with high-definition cameras, switchers and wiring. The stadium had just lately spent $5.6 million to double the dimensions of its scoreboard, and it needed to reap the benefits of the brand new show’s superior capabilities.
Texolve Digital Inc. was chosen for the $4.3 million undertaking, however it wanted a bond. The catch was this area of interest firm didn’t match the normal mould for contract surety. However, Outdated Republic Surety discovered a approach for Texolve Digital to hit a house run and rating a win for PNC Park.
From sticks and bricks to high-tech
Most contract surety bonds are written for “sticks and bricks” — buildings, roads and bridges — and contractors present construction-oriented accounting info to qualify for a bond.
However what occurs when a contractor isn’t a building firm? Such was the case with Texolve Digital, a nine-person agency that designs and builds video manufacturing methods. Bonding wasn’t one thing that Texolve Digital had expertise with.
As Outdated Republic Surety Bond Supervisor Kerry Enders explains, “With a standard surety contractor, you’re taking a look at three or 4 years of construction-oriented monetary statements, work-in-progress stories and job schedules to see if the earnings have held up.”
However the PNC Park undertaking was completely different. “The usual job costing that’s achieved on a percentage-of-completion foundation doesn’t lend itself to this sort of undertaking,” he says. “We had to have a look at it differently. We needed to focus extra on their experience, how lengthy they’ve been in enterprise, their references and their job efficiency.”
In response to Enders, “Texolve Digital’s financials had been very robust, however we needed to higher perceive their work and the way effectively they carried out on earlier tasks. What helped is that we discovered their shoppers completely liked them.”
Offering a greater fan expertise
It didn’t damage that Texolve Digital already had a presence at PNC Park. The corporate has supplied technical assist for each residence recreation for the reason that stadium opened in 2001. One in every of only some video methods integrators in Pennsylvania, it excels in a specialised subject that Texolve Digital President Mike Gianutsos says consists of not more than about two dozen firms within the U.S. able to doing this sort of work.
“Stadiums want our experience to improve their manufacturing tools and supply a greater fan expertise,” he says. “Tools is getting extra refined and costly, too. Greater dynamic ranges, quicker body charges, 4K decision — rather a lot has modified.”
Texolve Digital takes a soups-to-nuts strategy to its tasks. “We design methods tailor-made to our shoppers’ necessities and purchase the {hardware} to fulfill their schedule and finances. We normally construct the methods at our personal facility, then mobilize on-site to do the set up.”
For the Pirates undertaking, that meant constructing and testing methods off-site through the 2022 season. When the season was over, Texolve Digital gutted the management room and put in new tools and wiring. The undertaking was accomplished in March 2023.
Making a dream workforce with Outdated Republic Surety
Gianutsos describes his expertise with Outdated Republic Surety as “stellar.” He additionally provides kudos to surety agent Wealthy Taylor of ACS Surety Bonds in Pittsburgh for putting the bond.
“When a surety firm is prepared to say they’ll stand behind you, it means rather a lot if you happen to’re an unknown,” Gianutsos says. “We demonstrated what we’re able to and confirmed them different work we’ve achieved. And based mostly on that, they had been excellent in offering a product we wanted.”
When it got here time for Texolve Digital to bid on an analogous undertaking on the Penguins’ PPG Paints Area, there was little doubt who they’d name on for a bond, he provides. “We stated we needed to do the very same factor once more with Outdated Republic Surety.”
“Outdated Republic Surety is simply wonderful to work with,” says Taylor. “Not each surety could be prepared to work with a Texolve Digital, however Outdated Republic Surety stepped up and confirmed us they’ll do extra than simply building. As an agent, it’s good to know that I’ve a surety I can depend on like that. It’s spectacular.”
PNC Park Venture at a Look
- $4.3 million in bonds
- Video manufacturing system substitute
- Proprietor: Pittsburgh Pirates
- Contractor: Texolve Digital Inc., Oakmont, Pennsylvania
- Agent: Wealthy Taylor, ACS Surety Bonds, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Outdated Republic Surety consultant: Kerry Enders, bond supervisor, Harrisburg, Pennsyslvania
Fascinated with Insurtech?
Get automated alerts for this matter.
