Stanley Cup Final to offer American Sign Language broadcast

The Stanley Cup Final will be broadcast in American Sign Language for the first time by way of an alternate stream available in the U.S. and Canada.

The NHL and P-X-P have created “NHL in ASL,” which will be available on ESPN+ and Sportsnet+ for every game of the series between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers that begins Saturday night. It will be the first fully immersive viewing experience for the Deaf community by a professional sports league, according to the NHL.

“To me, this is like, this is where streaming and technology, innovation and risk-taking all sort of comes together,” said John Lasker, senior vice president for ESPN+. “I’m really excited to see what it’s like, what the community thinks of it and what comes after it.”

The telecast will feature deaf broadcasters — Jason Altmann, the COO of P-X-P and a longtime NHL fan, and Noah Blankenship, who was selected from a pool of around 50 candidates — providing coverage through ASL.

“This will not be your traditional play-by-play and color commentary, but rather something more conversational and relaxed in nature, providing a deeper layer of additional storytelling,” said Steve Mayer, NHL senior executive vice president and chief content officer.

Brice Christianson, the founder and CEO of P-X-P, a company that aims to elevate accessibility and inclusion in professional sports for the Deaf/hard-of-hearing community, said there have been countless hours of research, rehearsal and prep leading into the studio show.

“This would usually be a one-and-done thing. But the NHL has committed to the whole Stanley Cup Final and elevating the Deaf and hard-of-hearing experience through our partnership,” he said. “I’m excited for the world to see what the Deaf community is capable of. They just need to be given opportunities.”

The broadcast also will be tailored to the Deaf community beyond the signing. Graphic visualizations will include a large, metered, real-time bar that demonstrates crowd noise levels around events such as goals and penalties. Also included will be custom visual emotes to depict goals, penalties, the intensity of a hit, and whether a puck hits the post or crossbar.

Lasker said the possibility of doing an alternative broadcast like this has been considered since the NHL returned to ESPN.

“When we got the NHL rights back, there were these hints of innovation in the baselines of the deal. We have all these opportunities to think about how we serve fans better,” he said.

When the NHL suggested doing an ASL broadcast for the Stanley Cup Final, Lasker said it was a natural fit with what the network was already doing to increase accessibility for its broadcasts.

Two years ago, ESPN sought to expand its closed-captioning efforts as streaming content expanded.

“The technology actually didn’t exist to close-caption everything that we were doing. So we went on a mission to effectively unlock that capability. Today, every single one of our events is being closed-captioned,” Lasker said.

Christianson said that closed captions are “a great first step” in creating an accessible broadcast but that having an ASL stream of the Stanley Cup Final is special for the deaf audience.

“With captions, you’re forcing them to read in their second language. There’s usually run-on sentences. There’s incorrect phrases,” said Christianson, who has provided ASL interpretation of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s news conferences since 2022. “What the NHL has shown is that, with time and patience, commitment and follow-through, you can build an accessible and inclusive experience not only with closed captions but with American Sign Language.”

Altmann said it’s a point of pride to present the games in ASL.

“As a sports fan growing up, I couldn’t relate with the broadcasters because some elements were not well captured with closed-captioning,” he said.

As with any interpretation of hockey in other languages, not everything translates smoothly. P-X-P has deaf consultants on staff to help convey an accurate interpretation of hockey terms that don’t have direct proxies in ASL.

For example, when mentioning a goalie’s “five-hole” between their legs, an ASL announcer would spell it out alphabetically and then use another interpretation of what a 5-hole looks like. Christianson said a lot of ASL consists of facial expressions and body language, which will also be used to describe the game.

This project has been in the works for 18 months, Christianson said, after P-X-P first connected with Paul LaCaruba, vice president of growth and innovation strategies for the NHL. The company had done ASL interpreting for then-Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer’s news conferences, which caught the eye of the NHL. Soon Christianson was doing the same for Bettman’s news conferences.

Christianson said the broadcast is “groundbreaking,” not only in how the games will be presented but in who is presenting them.

“People in the Deaf community want to see people like them,” he said. “And now you have Deaf representation for the first time through ESPN+ and Sportsnet. Deaf people get to tune in and see an immersive Deaf experience in their native language. Just think what it does to the deaf and hard-of-hearing youth, in seeing role models on screen and saying, ‘You know what? I can do that too.'”

Mayer said there are plans to expand the “NHL in ASL” into the 2024-25 season.

“This further exemplifies the league’s commitment to producing accessible and interactive content for all of our fans,” said Kim Davis, NHL senior vice president for social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs, “including those in underserved communities.”