A handful of professional sports leagues are pondering a return to action in the coming months, carefully planning the best ways to protect players and spectators (if fans are permitted) while getting back to the courts, rinks, and diamonds.
It’s no secret that the path back to life as we knew it is going to be difficult, and there is no clear plan on how to open safely with many teams and sports and entertainment venues, as well as businesses and schools, trying to determine their own best courses of action.
But when the time comes, VITAC once again will be ready to make all the slam dunks, slap shots, and stolen bases accessible. But that’s not to say we haven’t been busy in the interim.
- We provided captions for a charity golf event for COVID-19-related causes that attracted nearly 6 million viewers.
- NASCAR racing returned to the track and airwaves last month with VITAC captions. And even before the rubber hit the road, we added captions to NASCAR iRacing events – virtual races and racetracks that feature many of the same drivers who compete in the stock car racing outfit’s premiere events.
- We captioned a number of online and virtual sports tournaments, such as NBA2K and NHL2K competitions.
- We also worked closely with our broadcast partners, including all of our major network clients as well as regional affiliates, in bringing captions to ‘classic’ games and archived sporting events that have been airing across the country.
VITAC helps clients meet ADA requirements by bringing captions to games, events, and concerts, whether you’re watching from a seat along the 50-yard-line or the couch in the family room.
As the country’s largest provider of media and entertainment captioning in the industry, we supply live and pre-recorded captions for more than 100 networks (including most cable stations) as well as TV producers and online video providers. We caption more than 580,000 live hours each year, among those tens of thousands of hours of sporting events.
Additionally, a growing number of professional sports teams and event centers rely on us to display captions directly on their scoreboards, ribbon boards, and in-stadium or arena CCTV systems. Colleges and universities across the country also use us to caption their commencement ceremonies to ensure accessibility for all participants and attendees.
So whether it’s the NHL dropping the puck on a playoff tournament in August, the NBA returning to the hardwood, Major League Baseball coming back with an abbreviated season, or the Olympic Summer Games tentatively scheduled for next year, we’ll be there making sure each game is accessible, whether you’re in the bleachers or your favorite recliner.