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Great news! The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, now has four live captioning boards in the corners.
It is now much easier for deaf fans to follow the Brooklyn Nets (NBA), New York Liberty (WNBA), NCAA March Madness, NBA draft nights, and other events.
In the past, we mostly had captions for national anthems and non-live content, plus captions on handheld devices—but QR codes and live captioning boards weren't part of the mix yet.
I'm so grateful that Barclays Center and BSE Global are supporting my accessibility advocacy. I really appreciate that they listened and agreed to share live captions or public address announcements on the boards—they even gave me four live captioning boards. Thank you!
Like many deaf fans, I've long hoped for four live boards at every stadium or arena. We don't always get them—sometimes there are only two—but Barclays Center is joining the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey (home to the NJ Devils hockey and Seton Hall basketball), which also offers four boards so everyone can see clearly from any seat.
The Red Bull Arena (also known as the Sports Illustrated Arena) in Harrison, NJ, might be the only spot in the metro area with large letters size reads live captions on the boards. That's why I always suggest offering both live captioning boards and mobile QR codes on the video screens—it's just a nice touch!
My other New Jersey and New York sports venues —like Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, the US Open, Rutgers' SHI Stadium and Jersey Mike Arena, UBS Arena, Red Bull Arena/Sports Illustrated arena, Met Life stadium, Madison Square Garden and others —still have just two live boards, though some offer mobile QR codes scans on the video screens. It's wonderful to see Barclays Center making things more accessible!
Gary Noll, a deaf advocate for accessibility in New Jersey and New York sports, has been instrumental in improving the experience for deaf fans by championing live captioning (CC) and American Sign Language (ASL) at New Jersey and New York professional and college sports venues. His dedication has earned him recognition with the New Jersey Governor's Jefferson Award (2019) for his contributions to sports accessibility, the New Jersey State Governor's Volunteerism Award (2024) for being recognized as a "Community Pillar" for his advocacy, and the Russ Berrie Award (2024) for being recognized as an "unsung hero" in the community. Gary Noll is currently advocating for live captioning, mobile captioning QR codes, and ASL awareness at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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