Veltins Arena will undergo its first ever replacement of the video cube. Four new giant screens will become Europe’s largest system of this kind, though still far behind equivalents from North America.

In July the first video screen replacement will happen at Veltins Arena. The stadium’s video cube had already enjoyed several technological partnerships (first Philips, then Samsung, now Hisense), but its size remained unchanged since the stadium’s opening in 2001.

Now the entire structure will be removed to see the screens’ size double. From current 34.7 square meters on four sides (138.8 m² in total) the screens will grow to 76.32 m² each.

photo: Bastian Sander (cc: by-nc-nd)

The operation is a major step for Hisense. The Chinese brand is just now establishing its place across European markets and partnership with Schalke (since 2014) is described as the company as major step in getting necessary exposition. This operation will make Veltins Arena the very first European stadium to have a central cube of over 300 m² in surface.

That’s bad news for stadiums left behind, including Friends Arena (240 m²) and PGE Narodowy (214 m²). But the giant screens in Gelsenkirchen suddenly become less impressive when compared to North American leaders. In USA the record belongs to AT&T Stadium (2,444 m²) and is beyond anyone’s reach, while in Canada BC Place offers 492 m².