Notre Dame Stadium is among the most famous sports venues in the United States. The University of Notre Dame “Fighting Irish” have played football there since 1930, when legendary coach Knute Rockne led the team.
Located in Notre Dame, Indiana, the stadium holds 80,795 fans. Famous players like Joe Montana and Paul Hornung starred for Notre Dame. Although the team last won the national championship in 1988, the Irish remain formidable and excel in home games. They own an all-time record of 314 wins, 106 losses and five ties at Notre Dame Stadium, where the team played before 225 consecutive sellout crowds from 1973 through the 2011 season.
The Sound System:
Notre Dame wanted a sound system for both emergency announcements and to enhance the game day experience. Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams, Inc. (WJHW), who designed the system, and the installer ESCO Communications of Indianapolis faced two major challenges.
In the lower concourse, the stadium’s concrete structure creates echoes and makes it difficult to have quality sound. Brian McCullagh of ESCO Communications explained the other problem. “The upper concourse is completely open to the weather. It’s a harsh environment for the loudspeakers, so weather resistance is especially critical.”
Neither concourse had any loudspeakers before the installation, which took place during summer 2011. When football fans visited the concession stands during games, there was no sound coverage. “They may hear the crowd cheer, but they wouldn’t know what happened,” said McCullagh.
This all changed with the new distributed system featuring multiple zones of R.5 and R.25 loudspeakers from Community Professional. Altogether, the team installed 136 R.5 and 91 R.25 loudspeakers driven by Crown amplification. The system uses Soundweb London for signal processing and routing, and a Soundcraft Vi1 console for digital mixing.
Community’s R-Series provided the intelligibility for a difficult sound environment and the weather resistance needed for the extremes of Indiana’s climate. McCullagh said this integrated system also enables the university’s technical services staff to remotely control the venue. For example, check for power problems and other issues.
The sound system was tested right away and performed flawlessly under tough conditions. Powerful thunderstorms twice delayed Notre Dame’s first 2011 football game versus the University of South Florida in September, requiring critical announcements for safety and evacuation. “It was an ideal opportunity for us to test out the system under real-world conditions, and we were able to observe the sound relative to the crowds and adjust the output levels accordingly,” said McCullagh.
Feedback regarding the sound system has been positive, according to McCullagh. It also improved the fan experience. The local play-by-play feed now comes through the new loudspeakers on the concourses. So football enthusiasts know what happens on every play, even when they leave their seat.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
