{"id":233603,"date":"2025-09-17T10:30:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T10:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/233603\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T10:30:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T10:30:14","slug":"create-more-noise-inside-ohio-state-footballs-new-gameday-script-and-how-its-changed-the-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/233603\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Create more noise\u2019: Inside Ohio State football\u2019s new gameday script and how it\u2019s changed the experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 Ohio State<\/a> athletic director Ross Bjork<\/a> had to walk a fine line when seeking ways to enhance the fan experience at Ohio Stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Horseshoe is a cathedral in college football, one rooted in tradition centered around Ohio State football \u2014 a prestigious program eight months removed from its ninth national title. There are things not meant to be touched, particularly for an athletic director in his second year on the job.<\/p>\n

However, while historic, Ohio Stadium isn\u2019t immune to change.<\/p>\n

It seats north of 100,000 fans, but its gameday experience isn\u2019t always the most raucous. The crowd gets up for big games and massive moments, but there are lulls not seen at arenas such as Oregon\u2019s. <\/p>\n

Bjork wanted to address that, so he introduced \u201cTradition Evolved\u201d<\/a> \u2013 an initiative from the athletic department aimed at honoring the past while, \u201cstepping into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goal was clear: \u201cNo matter the game time, provide consistency and never have any sort of quiet moments,\u201d Bjork told cleveland.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ohio State has gotten to run its new gameday script through three games, each in a different time slot. <\/p>\n

The results haven\u2019t been perfect, but they\u2019ve been effective.<\/p>\n

Ohio State combatting noon kickoffs<\/b><\/p>\n

Ohio State has been the victim, if such a term exists within a lucrative contract, of the Big Ten\u2019s partnership with Fox. The Buckeyes have the biggest brand in the conference, so they often find themselves featured on Big Noon Kickoff<\/a> \u2014 limiting the number of night games inside Ohio Stadium.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s win against Ohio was Ohio State\u2019s fourth home night game since the start of the 2023 season. LSU has had 14 such games in that time span.<\/p>\n

The Buckeyes can\u2019t do much to change that until the end of the decade, tasking Bjork\u2019s staff with finding ways to keep environments lively regardless of kickoff time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t control what happens in the game,\u201d Bjork said. \u201cWe can\u2019t control game time, per se, but we can control the script.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohio State implemented new traditions, ranging from a pregame victory bell ringer to \u201cTHE towel.\u201d Large speakers were placed at field level to improve audio. In-game presentations, such as the acknowledgement of sponsors, were moved off the field to a stage in the north end zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the kind of things that we just wanted to be consistent based on the script itself of the game,\u201d Bjork said. <\/p>\n

\"OhioRoss Bjork is in his second year as Ohio State’s athletic director. Getty ImagesA temporary success has a permanent solution en route<\/b><\/p>\n

The addition of temporary speakers doesn\u2019t catch eyes when written on a press release, but for Ohio State, it\u2019s been among the most successful tweaks to the gameday experience.<\/p>\n

Along with the speakers embedded into Ohio Stadium\u2019s concourse and seating area, the on-field speakers project sound toward the fans \u2014 amplifying the band and making it easier to hear the public address announcer or emcee. <\/p>\n

\u201cCreate more noise,\u201d Bjork said. \u201cThat was the whole goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results are felt for opposing teams. <\/p>\n

The bass from the speakers vibrates through the student section bleachers located above the visiting tunnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone realized the power that it was going to create,\u201d Bjork said. \u201cThe band loves it. The fans love it\u2026 It\u2019s been an awesome addition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OhioOhio Stadium seats more than 100,000 fans.The Plain Dealer<\/p>\n

The speakers are a temporary solution, but permanent improvements are on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Ohio State plans to have a new distributed sound system inside The Horseshoe. New LED ribbon boards and video boards will also be added.<\/p>\n

Some elements could be completed in time for the 2026 season. Bjork said the full package will be completed no later than the 2027 campaign.<\/p>\n

Where the Ohio Stadium experience can improve<\/b><\/p>\n

The enhancements to the gameday experience have yielded positive results, but it hasn\u2019t been perfect.<\/p>\n

A temporary speaker near the band was too loud last week, creating some issues. <\/p>\n

The end-of-first-quarter song \u2013 \u201cOhio\u201d by Caamp \u2013 is supposed to elicit emotion toward the state, but its lack of an up-beat nature makes it easy to miss.<\/p>\n

\u201cTHE towels\u201d were handed out to fans for the season opener vs. Texas, but they haven\u2019t been a fixture at games vs. Grambling State and Ohio. <\/p>\n

The ringing of the victory bell often gets a loud reaction \u2014 particularly with Ohio State greats Archie Griffin, John Cooper and Clark Kellogg<\/a> holding the honors so far \u2014 but there\u2019s an awkward pause between the new tradition and the Buckeyes\u2019 emergence from the tunnel.<\/p>\n

Some of the new ideas may stick and, once ironed out, become core pieces of the Ohio Stadium experience. <\/p>\n

Others might not, which isn\u2019t an issue as long as the ultimate goal is achieved. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s things that will take time, but I think people are walking away going, \u2018I noticed the difference. I was entertained. There was never a down moment,\u2019\u201d Bjork said. \u201cThose are the things that we wanted to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork had to walk a fine line when seeking ways…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":233604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[8019,1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-233603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-american-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115219177410430616","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}