Scoreboard
A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used a mechanical clock and numeral cards to display the score. When a point was made, a person would put the appropriate digits on a hook. Most modern scoreboards use electromechanical or electronic means of displaying the score. In these, digits are often composed of large dot-matrix or seven-segment displays made of incandescent bulbs, light-emitting diodes, or electromechanical flip segments. An official or neutral person will operate the scoreboard, using a control panel.
Scoreboards in various sports
North American football
In both the United States and Canadian football codes, the minimum details displayed are the time and score of both teams. A typical high school scoreboard will additionally display the down, the yardage of the line of scrimmage, the yards to go until a first down, the team with the possession and the quarter. Higher levels will also include play clocks and the number of time outs left for each team. American football scoreboards may include a horn to signal the end of a quarter, but they are not used in larger venues. In those cases, the referee or public address announcer denotes the termination of a quarter vocally via the PA system; formerly quarter ends were denoted with the firing of a starting pistol in the era before digital timing.Basketball
A basketball scoreboard will at the minimum display the time left in the period and both teams' scores. The last minute of each quarter is usually displayed with tenths of a second, which is required in FIBA, NBA, and NCAA. Most high school scoreboards also include a display of the number of team fouls, the number of the last player to commit a personal foul, the period, and indicators of which team is in the team foul penalty situation, and possession. College basketball scoreboards include shot clocks and the number of time-outs left for each team, with some high school state athletics bodies also beginning to adopt shot clocks to remove end of game stalling. Larger scoreboards include statistics on the players in the game. Basketball scoreboards must include a horn or buzzer to signal the end of a period, fouls, and substitutions; the shot clocks have their own buzzer system sounding a different octave to avert any confusion with the game clock system.In some multipurpose venues where ice hockey and basketball are played, the scoreboard unit which shows penalties will be used to display the player on the court, number of fouls, and points scored in the game. The team fouls are usually placed in the same position as shots on goal in hockey games. In some university arenas, the scorer's table, which has traditionally been used for displaying physically scrolling advertising boards along its face, may also feature either a traditional mechanical scoreboard, or a scoreboard display within a LED display on the front of the table which also functions with virtual scrolling advertisements.
Since 1991, the NBA has mandated that each shot clock carry a duplicate readout of the time left in the period in addition to the shot time. Since 2011, the shot clock also shows tenths of a second past five seconds left on the shot clock. Many college and even some high-school shot clocks now also include a game timer.
Three-sided game shot clocks became a trend in the 1990s, and after a controversial series of calls during the 2002 NBA Playoffs, the NBA instituted a new game shot clock rule in 2002, requiring specific visibility of the game- and shot-clock time for instant-replay purposes. FIBA installed a similar three-sided rule in 2004. The rule was further changed in 2005 by permitting a new Daktronics see-through model that has gained popularity as many OES and Daktronics venues have adopted the system. Since 2016, see-through clocks made by Tissot are what the NBA use for all venues.
Daktronics has introduced a technology called ColorSmart, which denotes the trailing team's score numbers with red lighting, while the leading team is in green. However this technology has yet to be utilized in a game settings as the bylaws of the major basketball sanctioning bodies and many of the high school athletic bodies decree that both scores must display in the same color; the rule came into effect in 1994 after Spectrum Scoreboards introduced an earlier version of the concept. This is used almost exclusively in recreation leagues.
Baseball
For baseball the scoreboard will at the minimum show both team scores, as well as the current inning. In addition the number of balls, strikes and outs is represented by digits or individual lights. Larger scoreboards offer an inning-by-inning breakdown of the scores, hits, errors, pitch count and the time of day, along with pitch clocks for leagues which mandate that rule. There may also be another display either separate or combined with the scoreboard listing the radar gun reading of the last pitch thrown in miles per hour. Almost all Major League facilities have a video board as a scoreboard or a matrix display. Usually these scoreboards are controlled via programs that keep statistics and not just the score. Usually the official scorer will operate this program. Then all the information the official scorer will enter, will automatically be made output to the scoreboard. Currently, the largest scoreboards are located at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, and Kansas City, Missouri's Kauffman Stadium. There is also a very large scoreboard at Citizens Bank Park, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Manually operated scoreboards are still found frequently in baseball, particularly at older venues. Well-known examples of manual scoreboards, using numbers painted on metal sheets hung by people working inside the scoreboard, include Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago, with Boston's scoreboard inspiring an alternate uniform for the Red Sox in the 2025 season as part of the City Connect program.
In some stadiums since 2005, LED boards which are the full height of the outfield wall have been installed to either replace a manual scoreboard or enhance an existing wall, are considered in play, and are durably constructed to withstand the impacts of fielders colliding with the wall, along with the impact of a baseball against the panel. Examples of this type of scoreboard display are seen in Milwaukee's Miller Park, Rogers Centre in Toronto, New Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, and Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. In all three cases, the walls display the current game state of out-of-town games, statistics for the current batter or pitcher, and promotional messages.
Another display has been added to college, minor league and major league stadiums through the mid-2010s to the current day, the pitch clock, which became compulsory in Major League Baseball with the 2023 season. This is a separate display, analogous to the play clock in football, and has multiple iterations throughout the stadium for maximum player, coach, and umpire visibility, along with spectators. Outside of timing pitch releases, the pitch clock also displays time remaining before play resumes during a media timeout between innings, and to time warmup periods for relief pitchers coming out of the bullpen.
Many 21st century scoreboards also integrate a total pitch counter. Since 2017, National Federation of State High School Association rules have required each state's governing body to adopt a daily pitch limit.
Cricket
For cricket a scoreboard will as a minimum display the batting team's score, wickets fallen, the opposition's totals. Most county-standard scoreboards will also display each batsman's score, overs remaining, extras, the bowlers currently on and details of the last wicket to fall. Australian state scoreboards will usually contain more detailed information.Ice hockey
An ice hockey scoreboard will at the minimum display the time left or played, the number of goals scored by each team as well as any penalties currently being served. Additional information such as shots on goal may be shown on smaller scoreboards located in the arena. Tenths of a second are usually displayed within the last minute of each period.In multipurpose arenas, the penalties being served will appear in the multi-purpose panels, used for player statistics in basketball, with shots on goal in the same position as team fouls for basketball. In some arenas the sideboards of the hockey rink feature three or four LED displays the size of one advertising hoarding which will show scoring information and promotional messages, though their limited visibility makes them rarely used.
A horn or buzzer must be used to signal end of timeouts or period. In most games, the home team will either play a recording of or use a separate goal horn, usually an Airchime, Kahlenberg, or Buell when their team scores. These aren't required, but are rather used as a celebration, and they are often unique to their team and easily identifiable. A notable example would be the recording that the Boston Bruins play which is used by many other teams.