Ohio State Stadium
A large-scale stadium audio expansion built to carry clear, high-output sound across one of college athletics’ largest venues.
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Market: Sports Venues
Solutions: Audio
Year: 2012
Primary Technologies: Meyer Sound systems and fiber infrastructure
Expanding Stadium Sound for a Bigger Game-Day Environment
Ohio Stadium needed an audio expansion that could support the scale, energy, and operational demands of a high-capacity sports venue. With more than 100,000 seats to reach, the system had to deliver more than volume. It needed to preserve clarity across long distances, maintain intelligibility in upper seating areas, and give venue teams a stronger foundation for announcements, music, and event audio.
Pro AVL expanded and upgraded the stadium’s sound system with Meyer Sound technology and fiber infrastructure, creating a more capable platform for large-format venue communication. The work focused on consistent coverage from near-field seating to the upper tiers, supporting a stadium experience where sound remains present, controlled, and understandable across the bowl.
Audio That Holds Together Across the Bowl
Large stadiums ask audio systems to perform over distance, weather exposure, crowd noise, and complex seating geometry.
In a venue the size of Ohio Stadium, the audio system has to serve very different listening positions at the same time. Fans close to the field, guests in the lower bowl, and attendees in the upper decks all experience the room differently. A system that feels powerful in one area can become uneven or hard to understand elsewhere if coverage is not carefully planned.
The expansion addressed that challenge by strengthening the stadium’s ability to project clean, intelligible audio across a very large seating environment. Meyer Sound systems provided the performance platform, while fiber infrastructure helped support signal movement across the venue. Together, those elements gave the system the reach and reliability required for a top-tier NCAA stadium.
CHALLENGE
Intelligibility at Stadium Scale
Ohio Stadium’s size was the central technical challenge. Audio had to travel long distances without becoming harsh, delayed, or indistinct. The system also needed to support a venue environment where crowd energy can quickly compete with announcements, music, and game-day production cues.
The goal was not simply to make the stadium louder. The priority was useful sound, audio that could cut through the venue environment while staying clear enough for guests to understand. That meant paying attention to coverage behavior, infrastructure stability, and the way system performance would translate across seating levels.
- Long-distance coverage across a 100,000+ capacity venue
- High-output performance for sports-event environments
- Consistent intelligibility from lower seating to upper tiers
- Infrastructure support for a large distributed audio system
INTEGRATION APPROACH
A System Expansion Built Around Reach, Clarity, and Infrastructure
Pro AVL approached the project as a stadium-wide audio expansion, connecting performance goals with the infrastructure needed to support them. Meyer Sound systems formed the core audio platform, selected to provide the output, control, and clarity required for a venue of this size.
Fiber infrastructure played a key supporting role. In a large stadium, signal pathways matter as much as loudspeaker performance. The system needed dependable transport across distance, with infrastructure that could serve the scale of the building and the demands of live-event operation.
The result was an audio platform built for broad coverage and practical venue use, not a patchwork of isolated improvements. Each part of the expansion supported the larger goal: make stadium audio more consistent, more intelligible, and more reliable across the full seating environment.
Systems Elements
Meyer Sound systems
The expanded system used Meyer Sound technology to support high-output audio coverage across a large seating bowl. The platform gave the venue a stronger foundation for clear announcements, event audio, and game-day production.
Fiber infrastructure
Fiber helped support signal distribution across the stadium, giving the audio system the transport backbone needed for long venue distances. That infrastructure was essential to keeping the expanded system organized and dependable.
Large-format coverage strategy
The system expansion focused on consistent coverage across near-field and upper-tier seating. In a stadium environment, that consistency is what turns raw output into usable, intelligible sound.
Sports venue reliability
The work supported the expectations of a top-tier NCAA venue, where audio must perform for large crowds and repeatable event operations. The system needed to be strong enough for major events while remaining practical for venue teams to operate.
OPERATIONAL IMPACT
Clearer Audio for Game-Day Communication
For a stadium team, audio quality affects more than atmosphere. It supports the flow of the event, the clarity of announcements, and the shared experience of a full venue. When coverage is consistent, messages feel more immediate and production elements land with greater impact.
The Ohio Stadium expansion gave the venue a stronger audio foundation for large-scale event use. By improving high-output coverage and intelligibility across the seating bowl, Pro AVL helped create a system that could better support both the energy and the communication needs of a major sports environment.
OUTCOME
A Stronger Sound Platform for One of College Sports’ Largest Venues
The completed expansion upgraded Ohio Stadium’s ability to deliver clear, powerful audio across a 100,000+ capacity venue. With Meyer Sound systems and fiber infrastructure in place, the stadium gained a more capable platform for large-format sports audio and venue-wide communication.
The project reflects Pro AVL’s work in high-scale sports environments, where successful integration depends on both system performance and practical infrastructure. For Ohio Stadium, the result was a sound system expansion built to serve distance, scale, and the expectations of a major game-day setting.
Sports Venue Audio That Works at Scale
Pro AVL helps stadiums, arenas, and large public venues build audio systems that carry clearly, operate reliably, and support the energy of live events.
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