DES MOINES, IA – A fixture in central Iowa for 75 years, Fair-Play Scoreboards is celebrating its milestone anniversary by doing exactly what made it an industry leader in the first place: introducing the latest and greatest products to the scoreboard industry. Over the past 12 months, Fair-Play has released a comprehensive series of new products and innovations, including the revolutionary new MiScore™ and MiTime™ handheld wireless controls. These portable devices come equipped with more control options in a smaller package and feature Fair-Play’s revolutionary frequency-hopping technology that enhances immunity to radio interference.

It’s this type of cutting edge approach that put Fair-Play on the map back in 1934.

Birthplace of the Scoreboard
Fair-Play’s founder, Elmer Foster, established the company on a simple premise: bring scoring accuracy and innovation to those who support sports for the love of the game. After the fate of his team’s district championship was decided on a final basket in the game’s closing seconds, Foster developed the concept for a time clock for high school sports in January of 1934.

The contested game that ultimately led to the invention of the first time clock pitted Dallas Center High School against rival Adel, which was led by future Iowa Hawkeye football legend and Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick.

Foster, then the superintendent and physics teacher at Dallas Center, was in attendance when the final gun sounded on what looked to be a two-point win for his high school. But an Adel monitor claimed a last-second shot should have counted and that time was still left on the clock. Trying to avoid an all-out controversy between the two schools, Foster ruled the shot should count and the game would be decided in overtime. When Adel won in the extra session, furious Dallas Center fans surrounded Foster’s car in the parking lot. Instead of dealing with the raucous crowd, Foster exited from a side door and walked several miles home.

As he walked, Foster came up with plans for a new time clock that would prevent future controversies like the firestorm he encountered in Dallas Center that night. Foster installed the first Fair-Play clock the following month, and soon his company was filling orders.

The advent of an affordable time clock was a simple development that started a revolution. It freed teams from the inevitable disputes arising from inaccuracies of manually timed contests, allowing coaches, players and fans to follow the game’s progress.

“The school spirit stayed with us all along,” said Jack Foster, Elmer’s son and former president of Fair-Play. “The spirit of the company was to be a positive factor for schools and sports. You can chart the increased interest in sports to the increased business for scoreboards and accessories.”

Elmer Foster created the means for “fair play” using technology to level the playing field and bring up-to-the-second information to amateur sports enthusiasts. The company maintained this focus to develop time clocks and scoreboards illuminated by incandescent lamps. Fair-Play made this affordable technology accessible to sports programs from local YMCAs, parks and recreation, schools, colleges and on up through professional-level franchises.

An Industry Mainstay
Seventy-five years later, more than 100,000 gyms, playing fields and stadiums have chosen Fair-Play as their single source for sports scoring equipment.

“I’m very proud that Fair-Play, after 75 years of innovation, continues to set the standard in scoring and display technology,” said National Sales Manager Jeff Reeser. “We could have rested on our laurels long ago. But our loyal customer base has ever-changing needs and we continue to develop, offer and provide equipment that sets us apart from our competitors.
Fair-Play should and will always be a part of any athletic competition, both literally and figuratively.”

Scoreboard technology has come a long way through the years. LED (light emitting diode) technology replaced incandescent lamps as the scoreboard industry standard due to its low maintenance requirement and energy saving characteristics.

Today it is not uncommon for scoreboards to generate revenue through advertising sponsorships. Fair-Play’s full matrix, full color LED electronic message centers deliver video highlights, player statistics, team logos and entertaining animations, adding a higher level of information and excitement to the game. In addition, full-matrix scoreboards are quickly becoming an ideal choice for facilities that entertain multiple sports. Unlike traditional fixed scoreboards, full-matrix offers the ability to display different types of information specific to all sports housed in the complex. Reliable wireless controls score games from virtually any location.

Recent high-profile sports installations of Fair-Play scoring equipment include: Whitmer High School football (Toledo, OH); Bishop Gorman High School football (Las Vegas, NV); Delta College football (Stockton, CA); Buena Vista University football (Storm Lake, IA); Conway High School basketball (Conway, AR); Clarkson University hockey (Pottsdam, NY); Monte Vista High School football (Danville, CA); Bemidji State University basketball (Bemidji, MN); Delta State University football (Cleveland, MS) and Mario Quijote Morales Coliseum basketball (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico).

Fair-Play has enjoyed an exciting 75 years manufacturing scoreboards and accessories in central Iowa. Its customers around the world can look forward to the same great performance and innovation in the years ahead. .

About Fair-Play Scoreboards
Sports fans, athletic directors and administrators have relied on the style, performance and innovation of Fair-Play Scoreboards to stay on top of their game for 75 years. Fair-Play Scoreboards, a Trans-Lux company, designs and manufactures quality scoreboards and accessories for high schools, colleges and municipalities. With more than 100,000 installations, the company is an industry leader in LED scoreboard technology and wireless scoreboard controls. Virtually every aspect of our products—from design to manufacturing to customer service—is performed from our division headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa. Fair-Play’s national network of dealers and service technicians backs our commitment to service after the sale. Catch the spirit of Fair-Play at www.fair-play.com.

Fair-Play Industry Firsts

Among its varied accomplishments, Fair-Play boasts these industry firsts:

1948 - First scoreboard manufacturer to offer affordable digital (seven segment) game clocks instead of analog clocks. This improved the visual precision of the clock and increased the player and spectator enthusiasm near the completion of a game.

1962 - First press-box controlled electronic messaging displays which was sold to the Los Angeles Dodgers and allowed them to remotely program and update their message center. This innovation allowed for rapid updates of game statistics, which greatly increased the usefulness of electronic message centers.

1965 - First animation and video capable lamp message center. This was sold to the Houston Astrodome and substantially raised the bar for electronic message center capabilities.

1980 - First scoreboard manufacturer to offer clocks that switched to decimal timing during the last 59.9 seconds of a game.

1988 - First PC based electronic message centers. This development substantially simplified the programming and ultimately led to the obsolescence of mainframe message center controllers.

1994 - First real-time incandescent large screen video screen controlled by a PC. This development led to the widespread adoption of color video by collegiate and minor-league baseball teams.

1999 - First wireless scoreboard control to utilize spread spectrum radios. The new controller enhances the mobility of the scorekeeper while providing the reliability needed for competitive scoring.

Recent Fair-Play product innovations include:

• Introduced new 20mm and 16mm full-color CaptiVue electronic message centers.
• Indoor and outdoor scoreboards with vibrant LED digits
• Wireless MP-72 and MP-52 scoreboard controls with revolutionary new spread spectrum technology.
• MiScore handheld wireless controls for football, basketball and baseball scoreboards.
• MiTime handheld wireless controls for 30-inch football field timers.
• MiClock handheld wireless controls for basketball shot clocks.
• ProWrite, a powerful new software for creating sign content on color CaptiVue message centers.
• More efficient methods of scoreboard installation, including full line of bolt-plate footing designs and variable mounting system which reduce total project costs.
• Larger 18” indoor scoreboard digits for increased visibility in larger facilities.