Miami Heat to unveil long-awaited arena upgrades early in 2024-25 season

Goodbye, sunburst. Hello, “Fireball.”

On Oct. 7, the Miami Heat and Kaseya Center will unveil a multi-million-dollar arena upgrade that includes a new scoreboard, new lighting and audio systems, as well as a new retractable seating system in the lower bowl.

The headline is the new scoreboard, which the team has nicknamed the “Fireball” because it replicates the team’s ball and flame logo. The ball features more than 2,500 square feet of LED screens, each capable of showing its own image or combining to show one large image. 

The Miami Heat will unveil a new scoreboard, lighting system and other upgrades to Kaseya Center this season.

The flame ball is framed by four large video displays measuring 19.5 x 29.5 feet, two top ring displays and four underbelly displays totaling 7,440 square feet and 55 million pixels of digital display space. 

Throughout the arena, new corner displays, vomitory displays, stanchion displays and event floor clock displays have also been added totaling 11,000 square feet of additional digital space. In all, the Heat are increasing the arena display space by more than fivefold.

In addition to the new scoreboard and display items, Kaseya Center also underwent upgrades to its lighting and audio systems. For basketball games specifically, Heat fans will experience a “boxing ring effect” in which the court is illuminated while the lower and upper bowls are noticeably dimmer, making the action on the court the focal point.

There’s also a new, retractable seating system that has been applied to about 2,100 seats in the lower bowl to create “more secure pathways for the home and visiting teams to travel between their respective locker rooms and the court.”

The upgrades cost more than $50 million, according to Forbes, and took nearly 100 days to complete.

Two cents: These changes were needed. Built in 1999, the Heat’s arena is one of the older ones in the NBA. Arenas across the league have lapped the Heat in terms of scale and technology, but the Heat have done well over the years to adapt Kaseya Center to the times. The Heat’s scoreboard was dated when compared to state-of-the-art models in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and others. It needed a facelift. This accomplishes that and should create a more exciting and immersive experience for Heat fans.

The team plans to debut the new scoreboard and other upgrades on Oct. 7 for the Heat’s annual Red, White and Pink game. The Heat’s first preseason home game is Oct. 10 vs the Atlanta Hawks.