Why There Is No Price List on This Page

Electro-Mech has manufactured scoreboards in Wrightsville, Georgia since 1963, and in all that time has never published a price list. That is a deliberate choice, and soccer illustrates the reason better than most sports: the same scoreboard can be a piece of equipment that rolls out of a storeroom at one club and a construction project at the next.

A published price would therefore be right for almost nobody. What follows instead is exact about the variables, so that the number you eventually receive is one you can check rather than one you have to trust.

Three Projects Hiding Behind One Question

Before any model is chosen, work out which of these you are doing. It changes the shape of the budget more than any specification does.

The portable route is not a compromise in this sport - it is the most common one. Of the 252 soccer orders in the record, 118 are portable models. Clubs that play across several pitches, and schools whose soccer field doubles as something else, frequently find that the scoreboard which travels is the one that gets used.

What Moves the Equipment Line

Four things, in the order they matter:

• Cabinet size, which follows viewing distance. Plan roughly 25 feet of viewing distance per inch of digit height, measured to the farthest seat rather than the touchline. The soccer line runs from a 5 ft. x 3-1/2 ft. portable with 11 in. digits to a 26 ft. x 8 ft. cabinet with 24 in. digits.
• How much of the match is on the face. Points, Time and Period is the base. Shots on Goal widens it. Corner Kicks and Saves widen it again. Penalty and Foul counts sit at the top of the line.
• The clock. A 5-digit Period Clock showing minutes, seconds and tenths is what a site sharing a running track needs, and it is the only difference between some otherwise identical models.
• Electronic team names. Lit GUEST and HOME characters changed from the console rather than painted. They very nearly double what the scoreboard draws, and they need the MP-Series console.

Notice what is not on that list. There is no good, better, best tier and no premium construction grade costing more for the same size - the cabinets are aluminum across the line, indoor and outdoor alike. If a comparison you are reading assigns grades to scoreboards, it is not describing this manufacturer.

What Moves the Site Line

This is the half of the project that varies most between two clubs ordering the same cabinet, and it is arranged locally rather than quoted by the manufacturer.

• Footings. Sized by the surface area of the sign and the local wind load requirement - not by the weight of the cabinet and not by how cold the winters are. A 26 ft. x 8 ft. face presents far more area to the wind than a 16 ft. x 5 ft. one, and that difference lands in the ground rather than in the sign.
• Access for the lift. A crane or hoist is required for anything but the smallest cabinets. A scoreboard position a truck cannot reach turns a straightforward lift into a long day.
• The electrical connection. A locally licensed electrician terminates the power at the panel. The scoreboard itself runs on ordinary 120 VAC, drawing 0.8 to 4.2 amps depending on the model.
• Trenching, if you are not going wireless. ScoreLink reaches about 750 feet; cable runs are supported to 1,000 feet. Roughly four out of five orders go wireless, and the trench is the reason.
• A permit, sometimes. It depends entirely on the jurisdiction, and in many places a scoreboard goes up without one. Where a permit is required the code may also call for a locally licensed Professional Engineer to review the structure and stamp the drawings - which happens on fewer than one hundred Electro-Mech projects a year.

Once the concrete has cured, the physical installation is commonly a single day's work. The waiting is in the concrete and in any permit, not in the scoreboard.

The Same Scoreboard, Three Budgets

The clearest way to see how the two lines behave is to hold the scoreboard constant and change only the pitch. Take the LX6430 - 16 ft. x 5 ft., 265 lbs., Points, Time and Shots on Goal - and put it at three different clubs.

Club A: the posts are already there

An older scoreboard of similar size is coming down. The posts were set for it, the footings cured years ago, a disconnect switch is already on the post and the panel has capacity. The project is a lift and a connection: get the old cabinet down, get the new one up, have the electrician terminate the power, run the operational test. If the club also moves to the wireless link, the buried cable simply stops being used. The site line here is short.

Club B: bare ground behind the goal

Nothing is standing. The site line now includes digging, posts set plumb in temporary framing, concrete footings sized against the local wind load, a cure period before anything is lifted, a crane or hoist on a day that suits the pitch, a trench if the control run is cable, and an electrician bringing power from wherever the nearest panel is. The equipment line has not moved by a penny. This is the version where the ground can cost more than the sign.

Club C: the scoreboard has to travel

Two pitches, sometimes three, and no fixed home for a scoreboard. The answer is not this cabinet at all - it is a 40 to 50 lb. portable on a T-Cart leg kit, plugged into a nearby outlet with the console at the touchline. There is no site line, and there is no permit conversation. What the club gives up is 11 in. digits instead of 18 in. and the basic figures instead of Shots on Goal.

Three clubs, one sport, and the thing that separated their budgets was the pitch rather than the product. That is why a published price would be right for almost nobody, and why the first question a sales representative asks is about your site.

Questions That Change the Number More Than the Model Does

Six questions worth answering before you ask for a quote, in rough order of how much they move the total:

• Are there posts in the ground? The single biggest fork. Everything about footings, curing time and inspection follows from it.
• Can a truck and a hoist reach the position? A scoreboard behind a goal, across a pitch that cannot be driven on, is a different day's work from one beside a car park.
• What does the local code say about wind load? It sizes the footings, and it is the reason a coastal club and an inland club with identical scoreboards get different numbers.
• Where is the nearest panel with capacity? The scoreboard needs very little - 0.8 to 4.2 amps at 120 VAC - but the distance to the supply is real work.
• Wireless or a trench? Roughly four out of five orders now go wireless, and the saving is the trench rather than the hardware.
• Does anyone need the scoreboard to move? If yes, most of the questions above disappear.

None of these is a specification question, and all of them belong in the first email rather than the third.

Funding, and the Panels Beside the Scoreboard

Clubs and schools rarely fund a scoreboard out of a single line in a budget, and the manufacturer's part in that is straightforward: the space around the scoreboard is where the crowd is already looking, and it can be sold.

ID panels carry a school name, a club crest or a sponsor's message. On a pitch they are frequently the largest visible part of the sign, and they are the standard way a purchase gets offset - the businesses that already sponsor kit and tournaments are the same ones who will pay for the panel above the scoreboard. A sales representative will work through a sponsorship arrangement with you if that is the route your budget needs.

The specification detail to carry into that conversation: a model with a built-in identification panel on the left, the right or both sides is designated -L, -R or -LR, and it is a different model rather than an accessory. It adds feet of cabinet, changes the weight and moves the mounting hardware positions - which in turn feeds back into the footings and the lift. Decide about panels before the structural work is designed, not after.

What the Record Shows Clubs and Schools Order

Two caveats first, because they matter to how much weight this deserves. Electro-Mech's sales record carries no field for soccer, so these entries were identified by model, using the soccer models published on this site. And the record counts orders - one per organization, model and city - so it says what was shipped and where, not what is standing today. Soccer is about two percent of the company's sales.

With that stated, the pattern is clear and it argues against spending upward:

One mid-size permanent cabinet leads, three portables follow, and one stadium cabinet sits behind them. The full-statistic 26 ft. scoreboards - the ones a pricing article would normally build its top tier around - appear in single figures across 21 years.

Read by the name of the buying organization: 115 schools, 34 colleges and universities, 25 parks and recreation departments, 16 clubs, and 62 whose names do not say. The geography follows the company rather than the sport - Georgia 37, North Carolina 24, Florida 22, Tennessee 17, South Carolina 14, Alabama 12.

What Is on the Quote, and What Is Not

Two quotes become comparable once you know which items live inside the scoreboard line.

• On the quote: the scoreboard and its console. The console is already matched to the model and configured for the sport - the 37-key MP-Series or the 15-key MM-Series. An MM-Series can be upgraded to an MP-Series, not the other way round.
• On the quote: ScoreLink, if you choose it. The wireless link, available across the line.
• On the quote, separately: the control cable. Purchased separately, and only needed if you are not going wireless.
• On the quote, as its own model: ID panels. A cabinet with a built-in identification panel on the left, right or both is designated -L, -R or -LR. It adds cabinet, weight and mounting hardware, so it is quoted as a different model rather than an accessory. It is also how many clubs offset the purchase, since local sponsors pay for the space beside the scoreboard.
• Not on the quote: the site work. Posts, concrete, the lift, trenching and the electrical connection. For a portable scoreboard none of this exists; for a new permanent installation it is frequently the larger half.
• Not on the quote: sound systems and video displays. Separate products with their own specifications and their own electrical scope. They, not the scoreboard, are why a stadium project sometimes needs heavier service.

What the Specification Does Not Say

Claims that turn up in soccer scoreboard comparisons and are not made by this manufacturer:

• No IP rating and no weatherproof rating. On any cabinet in this line. And the cabinets are not sealed - they carry drainage holes so water can escape.
• No temperature ratings. No published operating range, in either direction.
• No 100,000-hour LED modules. Electro-Mech does not make LED modules and makes no lifetime claim about any component or assembly other than individual LEDs, where the statement is that the majority will keep working while holding at least half their original brightness over that span.
• No construction grades. No stadium-grade, commercial-grade or facility-grade tier exists.
• No sport-mode switching as a property of the line. One portable model, the LX6324, is switched between sports at its MP-Series console because that is what that model and console do together. It is not a feature to assume on a permanent soccer scoreboard.
• ScoreLink is a communication path, not a control system. An option on every model, about 750 feet. The controllers are the MP and MM consoles.

The durability claim the company does make is narrow and specific: outdoor scoreboards last 15 years outdoors.

One habit worth adopting for any of the three projects: write down the two lines separately when the quote comes back, equipment on one side and everything arranged locally on the other. Clubs that do this find the comparison between options obvious, because the equipment side barely moves between two reasonable cabinets while the site side can double. It also makes the conversation with a committee shorter, since the question stops being "which scoreboard" and becomes "what does our pitch need doing to it".

After the Order: What the Club Still Has to Arrange

A quote accepted is not a scoreboard working, and the gap between the two is filled by things a club arranges rather than buys. None of them is difficult; all of them are easier before the delivery lorry arrives than after.

• Somewhere to keep it. Shipments frequently arrive before a site is ready, and that is fine as long as somewhere clean, dry and secure is waiting. A cabinet sitting outside a clubhouse under a tarpaulin for three weeks is a problem nobody has to have.
• Someone to sign for it properly. Note any shipping damage on the delivery receipt before signing. That single line is what separates a straightforward claim from an argument.
• Who is doing the installation. In some regions Electro-Mech has long-standing relationships with people who specialise in scoreboard installation and service, and a sales representative can point you to them. Beyond their reach, a local sign company is generally the right resource - erecting a sign on posts is ordinary work for them.
• A date for the electrician. Ideally the same day as the lift, so the operational test happens while the installer is still on site. Every digit, the clock, the horn.
• Someone who will actually run it. Have the person who will operate the scoreboard on a match day present at commissioning. Setting the brightness levels and confirming which direction the clock counts takes ten minutes with them there and a season of small irritations without.

For a portable scoreboard this list collapses to two items: somewhere to store it, and someone who knows where the cart is kept.

What to Bring to a Quote

A request carrying these comes back faster and closer to final:

• Which of the three projects you are running. Portable, replacement on standing posts, or new installation. This single answer reshapes the budget.
• The distance to the farthest seat. It sets digit height, and digit height sets the cabinet.
• The figures the face must show. Points and Time, Shots on Goal, or the full set with Corner Kicks, Saves and Penalty counts.
• Whether the site also hosts track. The five-digit clock question.
• Wireless or cable. And if cable, the run from the console position to the scoreboard, and whether a trench can follow it.
• Site access, wind exposure and storage. Whether a crane can reach the spot, what the local wind load requirement is, and where the shipment waits if it arrives early.

Current models and their full specifications live on this site and are kept up to date there. Bring the model number you are considering, or the pitch and the level of play, and let the sales representative work back to a model from that.

The useful answer to "how much does a soccer scoreboard cost" starts by asking which project you are running, and ends with a quote written against your pitch rather than against a table someone published without seeing it.

Ready to get a real number? Request a quote from Electro-Mech and include which of the three projects you are running, your viewing distance, and what the face needs to show.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a soccer scoreboard cost?

Electro-Mech does not publish prices and quotes each project individually. The figure comes from two lines: the equipment, set by cabinet size, what the face shows, the clock and whether electronic team names are included; and the site work, set by footings, access for the lift and the electrical connection. A portable scoreboard has no site line at all.

Is a portable soccer scoreboard a serious option?

In this record it is the common one: 118 of 252 soccer orders are portable models. A 40 to 50 lb. cabinet on a T-Cart leg kit rolls to whichever pitch is in use and needs no concrete, crane, trench or permit. The trade is 11 in. digits and the basic figures rather than Corner Kicks and Saves.

What is the most ordered permanent soccer scoreboard?

The LX6430: 16 ft. x 5 ft., 265 lbs., showing Points, Time and Shots on Goal, with 84 entries in the record. The 22 ft. x 8 ft. LX6540 follows at 35.

What decides how deep the footings have to be?

The surface area of the sign and the local wind load requirement, not the weight of the cabinet and not the climate. Coastal wind ratings drive deeper footings far more often than cold winters do.

Do I need a permit for a soccer scoreboard?

It depends entirely on the jurisdiction, and in many places no permit is required. Where one is, the code may also call for a locally licensed Professional Engineer to review the structure and stamp the drawings - which happens on fewer than one hundred Electro-Mech projects a year. Confirming the local requirement is the customer's responsibility.

What electrical service does a soccer scoreboard need?

Ordinary 120 VAC. The line draws 0.8 amps on a portable to 4.2 on the largest stadium cabinet, the console needs its own circuit, and electronic team names very nearly double the scoreboard's draw. Electro-Mech recommends a dedicated breaker.

Wireless or cable - which costs less?

Usually wireless, because the saving is the trench rather than the hardware. ScoreLink reaches about 750 feet and roughly four out of five orders now use it. Cable runs are supported to 1,000 feet and are the answer where the distance is longer than the radio link.

Do these scoreboards carry a weatherproof rating?

No. Electro-Mech cabinets carry no IP or weatherproof rating, and they are not sealed - they have drainage holes so water that gets inside can escape. The company's durability claim is that outdoor scoreboards last 15 years outdoors.

Can one scoreboard serve soccer and lacrosse?

The LX6430 is described on its product page as a standalone display for a soccer or lacrosse field. What differs between the sports is the caption set, not the cabinet or the mounting.