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The Gophers athletics department is asking the Board of Regents for approval to spend $5.7 million on a new scoreboard at Huntington Bank Stadium.

The item is scheduled to go before the Regents at their regular meeting next week, and if given consent, the updated LED video board would be in place for the 2023 football season, U documents show. The U said it would pay for it though donations and debt financing.

The U’s stadium opened in 2009. The school said the expected life for this technology is approximately 10 years.

“Over time, HBS’s displays have become noticeably dimmer, worn and washed out,” the athletics department said in its proposal letter. “Due to the age of the HBS displays, replacement parts are no longer manufactured for the existing display and the manufacturer, Daktronics, no longer offers a service contract to the University.”

This is phase two of three, the U said. The first phase was replacing the control-room equipment, which was approved in February 2022 and installed this summer. The third phase will be replacing digital displays at other athletic venues, including Williams Arena and 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Gophers Athletics Director Mark Coyle said last week the U still has approximately $40 million in debt due to pay off the Athletes Village project and its $21.5 million loan taken out from the university to bridge a budget shortfall from the COVID-19 pandemic in fiscal year 2020.

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