NHL in ASL Alternate Broadcasts Bring Stanley Cup Final to the Deaf Community
28m
This year's Stanley Cup Final was not only a seven-game thriller but also the catalyst for a first-of-its-kind, alternate telecast serving the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, NHL in ASL.
For every game of the Final, the NHL produced live game coverage presented with commentators communicating in American Sign Language (ASL). The telecasts were available to stream on ESPN+ in the U.S. and Sportsnet+ in Canada. The league partnered with P-X-P - a company dedicated to access, inclusion, and representation in professional sports for Deaf and hard of hearing sports fans - to produce the live shows from their studios in New York City.
On this episode of SVG Rewind, we are joined by the NHL's VP, Social Impact & Strategic Integration Rachel Segal and VP and Coordinating Director/Studio Manager Matt Celli to break down what it took to produce these shows. Why was this the avenue they chose to pursue, what factors in the operation needed to be taken into consideration, and how did it evolve over the course of the seven-game series?