 Thank you for joining us for the Riedel Communications Customer Spotlight. Today, we'll be discussing the Prudential Center Arena in Newark, New Jersey, affectionately known to many as The Rock. It's currently home to the New Jersey Devils of the NHL and also the Seton Hall Pirates NCAA College Basketball Team. They also host many other events at the Prudential Center throughout the year. I'm honored to have with me today Joe Cucci, Senior Manager of Scoreboard and Live Production for the Prudential Center in New Jersey Devils. Thanks for joining us Joe. Thanks for having me, Phil. Happy to be here. So how are you doing today? I'm doing all right. All things considered, gearing up for what hopefully will be a start of a season soon and just making sure we're ready to go. Wonderful. Wonderful. So why don't you tell us a little bit about what you do for the New Jersey Devils and the Prudential Center? Sure. So I am the Senior Manager of Scoreboard and Live Production for the New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center. I'm responsible for the development and execution of all Devils game pred elements, and I also oversee our control room and AB technology throughout the arena. So anything that touches technology, whether it's in our control room or in the building is my team's responsibility to handle. So back in 2019, the summer of 2019, you were looking into and ended up upgrading both your video routing core and also your intercom solutions. What was the driving force in deciding that that was the right time to make some sort of change for both intercom and routing infrastructure? Well, on the router side, our previous equipment was getting up there in terms of age, and we wanted to explore a new system that would not only help elevate our show now, but also future-proof us for years to come. So with the MeteorNet system and the ability to add on as we go, that was a big selling point for us, and that's why we went in that direction. On the intercom system, it was a two-part issue. Age definitely played a factor in that one as well, and we didn't necessarily have the range that we wanted to cover specific parts of our building. Our floor managers and camera operators would constantly be at a range, and we were not really satisfied with the limited communication capabilities that we had. The other big problem that we faced was frequencies. So because of the age of the equipment, our frequencies were part of a large frequency acquisition that affected a lot of buildings across North America, including ours. So the combination of those two problems led us to research a new intercom system, and we landed with the Bolero system. So along those lines, how old was both your routing solution and your intercom solution? So both were actually original installs of the building in 2007. So when we were placed in 2019, we were about 12 years old, and with any sort of equipment you reach at age, constantly are pushing the limits of what it can do. We were really happy that both systems lasted as long as they did, but this was a great opportunity for us to find something new and something that's going to last us for the next 10 to 15 years and put on a show for our fans. Especially since I think it was what, was it 2018 or 2017? You also upgraded the whole scoreboard solution, the video board that the fans watch. Yeah, we've made a ton of upgrades to our building over the last couple of years in the control room. Specifically, we upgraded our router, we upgraded the intercom, but we also did our scoreboard, like you mentioned, which is the largest in arena scoreboard in the world, which is something that I'm very proud of. Basically, blue line to blue line, if I remember correctly, right? The big selling point for us is the barge, right? So like we have our main display and it's the same size on all four sides, but then we have a barge that comes out of the bottom for scoring, and that's what really makes it the largest in arena scoreboard. But it's massive. It's a spectacle that when you walk into the arena ball, the first thing you see is that thing and people just have that wow moment. But yeah, I mean, with that going in, like that was a big part of our show. And with that need supporting technology that's going to be able to help put on that show even further. And that's where the reedal system really came in for both intercom and router. Very cool. So let's start off talking about intercom. And then later, we will talk about the router solution you chose since they're two important pieces of the puzzle. One interesting discussion you and I had along with Ben Broder, your VP of marketing experiences at the Devils, was we were talking about how you were able to get management to agree to invest in something that's very behind the scenes. As you know, intercom is something that most people do not see until it's gone. And then they go, oh, my God, why didn't that event or thing happen? How are you able to get management to buy into investing into something that they really don't see when they're sitting in the skybox and watching the game and the scoreboard? Yeah, whenever we decide to upgrade technology in our building, whether it's in the control room or around the arena, we want to make sure that the proper decision makers are looped in from the very start. So on the intercom side, that was very easy to do because we were able to bring them into the room and literally listen to a game with my team running it in real time and see the problems that we were having with communication. They were able to see firsthand the range issues we were facing. And ultimately, that led to a much easier conversation to have in terms of actually getting the job done that we need to get done. And I will say to our leadership team in HBSC, Harris-Boothers Sports Entertainment, which is our parent company, they are very open to having conversations to make our show better. And that's something that we're very lucky to have. Not many teams can say that. But when we present an issue, they ask the right questions and we give them the right answers. And with the intercom system, they heard the problems. We had a conversation about it and that led to the purchase of the Bolero system. So for us, that was huge. So continuing along those lines, I mean, what were the major factors? I mean, obviously, you looked at other solutions, right? There's plenty of other solutions out there for both wired intercoms for your keypad and matrix and your wireless system, like you're mentioning Bolero. What were the main factors that chose you to go with Artist and Bolero? We would say the range is definitely one of them, for sure. We wanted something that we can go out and talk wherever we wanted to, not necessarily women ourselves to being in certain areas of the building where we would know that it would work, right? So you always want to be able to have that flexibility. With Redal, we've we've seen it in multiple venues. We've seen it in different tours that have come into our building, whether it was concerts or shows that are using the Bolero system to tie in comms for our system or even NHL events that we have been a part of, whether it was the stadium series or the Kraft Hockeyville show where we actually had first hand on experience with the real system and we fell in love with it. And I think having that experience with it before we made the purchase is huge. And I know that, you know, Phil, you came out and did a full demo with our engineering team and you did your great job of selling it to us for sure. But, you know, at the end of the day, it was a product that we knew was a premiere product across all sports. And that was something that we constantly aim for us to be the best of the best. And by going with Redal, we were confident that that was going to help us go where we need to go. Wonderful. Now, how has the new the new intercom system Bolero artists, the new style key panels that you have, how has that changed the way you've been doing in the venue production? Has that changed anything that you've done since the install has happened or changed a bit of your workflows? In terms of workflows, you know, it's it's nice to have the point to point communication that we didn't necessarily have prior. So, you know, if I need to have a conversation with a specific camera operator or our floor managers instead of talking to everybody. And it's nice to have that freedom to do that. So we have set up a different party line for multiple people to talk in once. And then we also have that point to point that's been crucial in making sure that communication isn't breaking down on the floor. Wonderful. That's exciting. Now, along those lines, using the technology to its full potential and things like that, we talked about before how, you know, intercom isn't always something that you can see, right? You can't always see the upgrade. The fans in the building don't necessarily notice. It's, you know, it's very easy to see if you bought a new graphics machine or something like that. Oh, look at the special new graphics we made. Has there been something maybe in the past after you did the upgrade? And I know COVID cut into being able to use the equipment as long as you would have liked, but is there something that you guys have done that you could say the fans really noticed they might not know that the intercom upgrades because why you did it, but there's something new or different that you did that you were able to do because of the intercom that the fans liked that you wouldn't have done before without Valero or artist? Yeah, I don't think there's anything maybe specific, but I would say any camera angle that we've added this year is something that we may not have been able to do in the past because of our communication with our camera operators. So, you know, when you're seeing these high five tunnels coming out of the Devil's locker room or if we're shooting a live looking in one of our lounges on the main concourse two or three years ago, that's not possible. And it's possible now because we had this real system in place where our range has really gone to the next level. And I don't have to worry about not being able to talk to my operators in real time. So I would say, you know, if you're a fan coming to our game, you may see one or two new things every game. A lot of that has to do with being able to talk to our camera ops and our floor managers and making sure that we can do it. And because of that, we've really added to our in-game presentation. I would say twofold for sure. That's awesome. I mean, that that kind of falls back to me remembering when we were on site and we were doing the test and we hung up one antenna and we were walking practically out into the rotundas and into the basement with one antenna with the coverage. So I remember we were in the laundry room at EL of our building and we were like, let's test it and it worked. So, you know, that's that's a huge selling tool because that room where we were in is right outside the visiting locker room and the devil's old locker room. And we do stuff down there constantly. And even for seeing all basketball as well, their locker room space is on EL in a very, very far away place compared to where our control room is. And we're able to shoot them coming out and making sure that our fans are getting that angle that you may not necessarily see without it. So it's been very important for us to have a system like this in place. Wonderful. That's really exciting. We're super glad to hear that it's made made a great difference for you guys. Moving on a little bit to the router side of things now, because that was the the other piece that you guys changed in 2019, the MeteorNet SDI routing system that you put in. What were the new things that you were looking for when you were looking at upgrading from the original router that was in the system? Yeah, I mean, our in arena show has dramatically evolved over the last few years. And with that came more needs for frame six, new equipment, new cameras. And in order to support all those changes, we needed a routing system that gave us enough space to function right now, but also prepare ourselves for the future. And with this new MeteorNet system, it checked both those boxes for us. We were now have the room to run our show to its max potential in its current state. But now we know that if we do need to expand it in the next two or three years, we can do that without having to upgrade the entire router. And that was a huge selling point for us. Right. The distributed chassis and not having a max chassis that you could eventually hit max card count on not having that limitation. So that was a big point for you. That's great. Were there any other any other factors besides that max that not having that max chassis size that some of the other routers have that led you to thinking MeteorNet was the right decision? Yeah, I think the ease of sending routes to the individual panels, everything is IP based and the ability to change things on the fly was huge for our engineering team. Our engineer Mario has been in the buildings since day one. And I know that was a huge selling point for him because it makes his life a lot easier on game days. But it also gives us the flexibility to have different setups and organization for different sporting events. You know, we may have one set up of our routes for the devils, whether it's going to the MSG networks or going in-house. But then you come to see in hall the next day or even the same day for a double header. And those routes completely change. So the ability to be able to change everything so quickly and on the fly for our engineering team and myself has been a huge part of our show and it makes it much less stressful on game days. What would you say would be, you know, kind of the best aspect? You've talked about a lot of different things that have been advantages for you guys with the new system. What would you, if you had to pick one thing that you'd say was, you know, is the best thing you've seen from this system, what would that be? I just think the ease of use is definitely one of them. You know, and you know how this went, our install was a quick turnaround to make sure that we were ready for opening night in 2019. And, you know, that can be stressful. But I think we were able to put the system in do two days of training and just pick it up so quickly. And I think that was important for not only me and the full-time staff, but our part-time staff as well, because we want them to be able to come in and do their job well, but also want to give them the tools and not make them think that they don't know what they're doing. And also just, you know, it's been incredibly reliable. We haven't had many issues knock on wood so far that we would need to, you know, call a reedle or anyone for tech support and have issues during game days. It's been a rock solid product. And again, that was something that we wanted going into this, that we didn't want something that was going to fail. Great. I'm glad to hear it. Now, how do you think looking at both the systems overall, right? All right, you've hinted at this one. The answer to this as well a little bit. But how would you say that these systems will continue to help you grow? You know, as over the next few years, I mean, your last system lasted you over 10 years. I'm sure you're expecting similar life out of this new system. How do you expect this to help you grow the productions over the next few years as the team grows and as you have more events in the venue? Yeah, I think both the routing and intercom, it allows us to grow our show however we want and we're not limited. You know, the big thing that we're now working on is how do we bring hockey to our fan base as much as possible during the show while also entertaining? And a big part of that is the studio space that we have on our suite level. So it's a fairly new studio space that was just put in. We have a desk and our content team does an amazing job of putting on pregame shows and eventually a warm up show that will bring hardcore hockey fans what they want to watch when they're watching a doubles game. But where do we take it from here? So I think in the next couple of years, you'll see us utilize this reedle system, both intercom and router to connect the studio to our control room and make it an extension of our room. So that way, when we're doing live streams and we can do our in ball show when fans are allowed back in the building, hopefully sooner rather than later, we'll be able to elevate our already great show by using some more hockey content that we didn't have previously. Yeah, I think I think it will go pretty easy. You'll see, you know, with the distributed architecture of the media net router, it's going to be very easy. We've talked about this in the past, very easy to add a IO actually at the location of the studio. So you're not going to have to run tons of cables from the studio all the way up to your the machine room for your control room. You'll actually just run a few fiber cables down to the studio and that'll give you what you need. And obviously, the Bolero coverage that you've already seen your venues going to help with that, like you're saying. Now, last question that I think is a really interesting one that a lot of people in the in the arena market and even in most other markets as well will be interested to hear kind of what you might what your thoughts are on this. Would you say that either of these new systems and how would you say they've done to do this? Would you say that either of them have helped you create your more revenue streams or extra revenue for either the Prudential Center or the New Jersey Devils? Oh, I think both systems unlocks unlimited possibilities for you. And I think, you know, when you are buying an intercom system, you're not going to sell a partnership or any sort of revenue based on your intercom, right? But it's the way you look at how you're going to use your intercom. And same thing with router two, you know, on the routing side, the more IO space that we have and the ability to expand when we need to opens up new, like I said, camera angles, in game features, other game presentation elements that are all sponsorable. So it's almost hand in hand. Like we are adding the sponsored elements, but we're doing so because we have the IO space ready to handle the workload if we decide to go that route. And the same thing with intercom. I mean, you look at an intercom, it's OK, it's communication. It's it's what makes your show run. But how does that get sponsored? Well, at the end of the day, the more locations that we're able to shoot in and the more live shows that we can connect to our studio, that's going to be something that you can sell and make revenue coming back to you, which is something that we wouldn't be able to do without these two these tools. So, you know, whether it's if I want to shoot the team doing warm up soccer in the hallway behind the locker room. Three years ago, that's not happening. Now it is. We also can go to our member lounge and highlight our season ticket members, our black and red members that are at every game. And they can actually see themselves on the scoreboard while in a lounge, not in their seat. So it's really just opening those doors for revenue coming in that you don't necessarily think, oh, my router intercom are going to do that. But at the end of the day, it is. And it's just the way that you shape your thinking and make it happen. Very interesting, very interesting. Thank you so much, Joe, really, really appreciate the time and all the insights on this project and what you guys have been able to build and good luck for the hopefully upcoming NCAA basketball and NHL seasons. Hopefully they bring many fans into the venues once we're allowed and and lots of wins for both teams. So thank you so much for your time. Thanks for having me.