NHL to add major new feature to their broadcasts to make the league more inclusive
The NHL has been looking to improve their broadcasts and overall presentation, and now they've announced a permanent feature that they introduced a year ago.
During last years Stanley Cup Final, the NHL made one major improvement, as they attempted to make the game much more accessible for deaf people, as they broadcasted games using American Sign Language (ASL).
Now, that is reportedly back, as the NHL will trial it during the upcoming Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues, and continuing on from that, select games will be broadcast using ASL.
«Building off the tremendous success of our groundbreaking NHL in ASL broadcast for the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, we are proud to continue to demonstrate the League's commitment to providing a fully immersive and accessible viewing experience that specifically meets the needs of the Deaf community for our Legacy events as well, starting for the first time with this year's NHL Winter Classic.
«This is an NHL-led production for the Deaf by the Deaf, and we encourage all fans watching at home to tune in to experience this special telecast.» - Steve Mayer, President, NHL Content and Events.
While this may not sound like a big deal to some, it is quite historic and groundbreaking, at least according to Brice Christianson, the CEO of the company that will be helping the NHL broadcast this.
"This is a great first step of having representation, having deaf people on screen, having the Deaf community connect to people like them. For the NHL to sign off on this and to believe in this, it's groundbreaking. It's truly historic and also they've doubled down and said that they want to continue to do this."
While Gary Bettman no doubt catches a lot of slack for the decisions he makes, making the NHL much more accessible in this way is a brilliant move to bring in and retain viewers who otherwise may not be able to enjoy games to the fullest extent.
At this point, it's not going to be at every game, but hopefully, the league can get great feedback on their broadcasts and make this a permanent fixture of their broadcasts moving forward.
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