What's Needed At The Alerus?

[bubbaball69]

They were all by the north end of the tailgating. Werid to have 20 so far away from everything.

2 hours ago, F'n Hawks said:

Yep for the first home game there were enough and spread out across the tailgate lot. For home games 2 and 3 not so much.

 

4 hours ago, Kab said:

Apparently they need more porta potties too

seen 2 young gentlemen watering the cement between cars

at least it wasn’t a female squatting on the sidewalk 

 

[F'n Hawks]

Averaging 11,300 thus far, and with the two opponents left, will be higher than that. 

[forksandspoons]

1 minute ago, F'n Hawks said:

Averaging 11,300 thus far, and with the two opponents left, will be higher than that. 

Face value tickets still available. Buy them up for your UND friends! https://www.ticketmaster.com/university-of-north-dakota-football-vs-grand-forks-north-dakota-11-08-2025/event/060062F54A96873F

[Kab]

16 minutes ago, forksandspoons said:

Face value tickets still available. Buy them up for your UND friends! https://www.ticketmaster.com/university-of-north-dakota-football-vs-grand-forks-north-dakota-11-08-2025/event/060062F54A96873F

Come on grand forks business, buy these up and have some promotions, ndsu fans won’t attend this in big numbers because they have moved on, they are too important in their eyes, there will be plentry of them being obnoxious tho, and somehow they sit too close to me usually 

[Siouxperbb32]

1 hour ago, Kab said:

Come on grand forks business, buy these up and have some promotions, ndsu fans won’t attend this in big numbers because they have moved on, they are too important in their eyes, there will be plentry of them being obnoxious tho, and somehow they sit too close to me usually 

I did my part and bought 8 early and didn't even have em all spoken for cuz I don't want any more manure than possible coming into the Alerus.

[F'n Hawks]

Very solid attendance this year and think that could continue to grow. Still improvements that the Alerus could do to improve the in game experience IMO

[SIOUXFAN97]

why dosn't the ralph to the puck chuck anymore...awesome and fun?

could'nt the alerus do the same with a small nerf football at football games? closest to ____________

[Siouxperbb32]

A few home playoff games would be nice. Hopefully that starts next yr!

[KEH]

Seems someone wasn’t paying attention and then cried when it was too late…Daktronics is the cream of the crop and employs a lot of UND grads. LucentHD is a GF business and has done some big projects but scoring and timing systems are something you don’t mess around with. The Ralph, Betty, and US Bank Stadium use Daktronics. It’s a shame we probably won’t have these upgrades by football season.

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/grand-forks-city-council-terminates-led-scoreboard-contract-with-daktronics

[gfhockey]

7 minutes ago, KEH said:

Seems someone wasn’t paying attention and then cried when it was too late…Daktronics is the cream of the crop and employs a lot of UND grads. LucentHD is a GF business and has done some big projects but scoring and timing systems are something you don’t mess around with. The Ralph, Betty, and US Bank Stadium use Daktronics. It’s a shame we probably won’t have these upgrades by football season.

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/grand-forks-city-council-terminates-led-scoreboard-contract-with-daktronics

Bison alums?

[SIOUXFAN97]

did we have pics of what we were gonna get?

[UND-FB-FAN]

8 hours ago, KEH said:

Seems someone wasn’t paying attention and then cried when it was too late…Daktronics is the cream of the crop and employs a lot of UND grads. LucentHD is a GF business and has done some big projects but scoring and timing systems are something you don’t mess around with. The Ralph, Betty, and US Bank Stadium use Daktronics. It’s a shame we probably won’t have these upgrades by football season.

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/grand-forks-city-council-terminates-led-scoreboard-contract-with-daktronics

This is atrocious. I recommend writing to the Alerus Center and City of Grand Forks citing these concerns with hopes to still expedite the process for football season. Again, this is ridiculous. Yes, Alerus Center is city-owned, but it is also important we don’t relegate ourselves to elementary levels by employing only local businesses. We deserve top-notch state of the art technology, especially if trying to enhance our game-day atmosphere. Go with Daktronics. Get this done, do it right. As for LucentHD, strive to simply be better, maybe you’ll get offered in the future, and stop complaining. When it comes down to it, the City of Grand Forks and Alerus Center need to balance out fiscal and legal responsibility while actually enhancing the quality of the product (video boards and associated technology) being asked for. 

[The Sicatoka]

Here's the problem: 

Quote

According to the city’s 2026 budget for the Alerus Center, the event center has $4.5 million budgeted for scoreboards this year. Because the base price in the contract was less than that budgeted amount, the project did not need approval from the City Council, according to the facility’s purchasing policy.

Non-construction capital projects do, however, need to have bids publicly advertised in the Grand Forks Herald and included on the city website. According to ND Public Services, no requests for proposals or bid requests were published ahead of the commission’s vote to accept Daktronics’ offer.

To an outsider that looks like somehow someone knew exactly when, how, and what to bid (to slip it past a taking a vote) when bids were not even publicly sought.

[GeauxSioux]

45 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

Here's the problem: 

To an outsider that looks like somehow someone knew exactly when, how, and what to bid (to slip it past a taking a vote) when bids were not even publicly sought.

That is exactly what that sounds like.  As a contractor, I can understand why someone would protest, if the bid process was not public, as it is supposed to be.

[UNDDOM]

11 hours ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

did we have pics of what we were gonna get?

The new boards were apparently 40 feet longer and much better resolution.  

[UNDBIZ]

Looks like the Alerus staff dropped the ball here.  Public bidding can be a slow and seemingly dumb process, but it exists for a reason. 

[UND1983]

1 hour ago, The Sicatoka said:

Here's the problem: 

To an outsider that looks like somehow someone knew exactly when, how, and what to bid (to slip it past a taking a vote) when bids were not even publicly sought.

Was my first thought also.  

[UNDDOM]

5 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said:

Looks like the Alerus staff dropped the ball here.  Public bidding can be a slow and seemingly dumb process, but it exists for a reason. 

The city said with recent change to state law, they were under the impression they could use a cooperative purchasing agreement with Source Well, who is a collective buying group.  Source Well puts out their own RFPs, scores them and Daktronics was the most qualified... Dana Sande is on the radio talking about this now.   

[Kab]

Dak can still get the bid and does it say the bid must go to the lowest bidder?

[UNDBIZ]

34 minutes ago, Kab said:

Dak can still get the bid and does it say the bid must go to the lowest bidder?

Correct and no.

[UND-FB-FAN]

2 hours ago, GeauxSioux said:

That is exactly what that sounds like.  As a contractor, I can understand why someone would protest, if the bid process was not public, as it is supposed to be.

 

1 hour ago, UNDBIZ said:

Looks like the Alerus staff dropped the ball here.  Public bidding can be a slow and seemingly dumb process, but it exists for a reason. 

 

1 hour ago, UNDDOM said:

The city said with recent change to state law, they were under the impression they could use a cooperative purchasing agreement with Source Well, who is a collective buying group.  Source Well puts out their own RFPs, scores them and Daktronics was the most qualified... Dana Sande is on the radio talking about this now.   

Okay, some blame to go around (as has happened in the past with Alerus Center), but will this contract cancellation and open bid process really change the outcome in any meaningful positive way? Unfortunately, likely only will affect it in a negative way, but that is now the path we’re going down… and sure, laws are laws, albeit some ambiguity here. 

Hopefully the process is expedited and Daktronics is still appropriately awarded the contract and the opportunity to actually improve the situation inside the Alerus Center …

[SIOUXFAN97]

love new stuff..buuuuuut

are the video boards that old that they need replacing?

[fightingsioux4life]

9 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Okay, some blame to go around (as has happened in the past with Alerus Center), but will this contract cancellation and open bid process really change the outcome in any meaningful positive way? Unfortunately, likely only will affect it in a negative way, but that is now the path we’re going down… and sure, laws are laws, albeit some ambiguity here. 

Hopefully the process is expedited and Daktronics is still appropriately awarded the contract and the opportunity to actually improve the situation inside the Alerus Center …

When LucentHD loses (and I believe they will), will they continue complaining about it?

[fightingsioux4life]

3 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

love new stuff..buuuuuut

are the video boards that old that they need replacing?

In the current world of intercollegiate athletics, you either go big or go home. Technology becomes obsolete very quickly. And this will also further enhance the Alerus Center as a concert and event venue outside of UND FB.

[GeauxSioux]

16 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

 

 

Okay, some blame to go around (as has happened in the past with Alerus Center), but will this contract cancellation and open big process really change the outcome in a positive way? Unfortunately, likely only in a negative way, but that is how the path we’re going down…

Hopefully the process is expedited and Daktronics is still appropriately awarded the contract and the opportunity to actually improve the situation inside the Alerus Center …

That is the path that must be followed.

In the end Daktronics may end up with the contract.  But will their price still be the same?  As a contractor, my price/proposal is usually a bit higher when I know that I am the lone bid on a project and tend to sharpen my pencil a bit when I am in competition.  Since Daktronics price is already out there, their competitor(s) know where to shoot for.  Daktronics knows this and may have to sharpen their pencil a bit 

The City messed this process up, not LucentHD.