The National Hockey League (NHL) announced an innovative broadcast production called the “NHL in ASL” which will be available during all 2024 Stanley Cup Finals games. On Wednesday morning, the league and its partner, P-X-P, expanded their collaboration to broadcast an entire Stanley Cup Finals series in American Sign Language for the first time. The broadcast will be available on digital platforms for live coverage beginning with Game 1 on Saturday night.
Approximately 33 million North Americans navigate life with some level of hearing impairment according to U.S. and Canadian authorities.
Featured Broadcasters Relatable To Viewing Audiences
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The “NHL in ASL” features broadcasters who will describe the action on the ice to deaf viewers at home providing visual descriptions of the critical actions like goals, penalties, and rule explanations. Jason Altman, the chief operating officer of P-X-P, is third-generation deaf. He understands how important this type of broadcast is to the community.
“The opportunity to do a Deaf-centric broadcast of a premier sporting event in ASL is a positive, seismic change for the Deaf community,” Altmann said. “As a sports fan growing up, I couldn’t relate with the broadcasters because some elements were not well captured with closed captioning. Now, we are creating an opportunity for Deaf sports fans and viewers to watch Deaf broadcasters and fell engaged through ASL.”
Noah Blankenship will join Altmann on the broadcast. Blankenship works in Denver, Colorado for the Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services in the Agency for Human Rights and Community Partnerships.
Not the First American Sign Language Broadcast for Partnership
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The NHL and P-X-P have previously partnered up for marquee events before the “NHL in ASL” at the Stanley Cup Finals. P-X-P provided American Sign Language interpretation for events like All-Star weekend and the Stadium Series events. Perhaps the most impressive collaboration was broadcasting “State of the League Address” from Commissioner Gary Bettman allowing the message to reach a more inclusive audience.
Kim Davis, the NHL Senior VP of Social Impact, Growth Initiatives, and Legislative Affairs, invites all hockey fans to tune in for the unique broadcast experience.
“This NHL-led production further exemplifies the League’s commitment to producing accessible and interactive content for all of our fans — including underserved communities. Fans of all abilities are encouraged to tune in to experience this first-of-a-kind broadcast as a way to understand and share the experience with someone who is Deaf.”
NHL Providing Access For More Hockey Fans
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Brice Christianson, the CEO of P-X-P, believes the “NHL IN ASL” will be revolutionary for hearing-impaired hockey fans.
“It gives the Deaf community the belief that accessibility and inclusion and representation is possible in professional sports,” Christianson said of the broadcast. “Accessibility, inclusion and representation is something that the Deaf and hard of hearing community don’t get consistently, and what we’ve been doing with the NHL over time is building it.
It is always a wonderful thing for professional sports leagues to bring innovative new opportunities for fans to relate and interact with their product. The broadcast from the NHL should allow an untold number of hockey fans to experience the amazing Stanley Cup Finals action on terms that work better for their lives.
Also Read: Florida Panthers Prepared To Pounce in 3rd Stanley Cup Finals
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Christopher Babos is a genuine sports & entertainment journalist with diverse credentials in writing, broadcasting, and digital media. He can be located on X for real-time takes (@CBabosWrites). With various roles in the sports industry over two decades, Chris can speak with authority on the topics he covers. Additional insightful sports articles are located here.
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