National hockey League Earns Sports Emmy Nominations for ‘NHL × ASL’ Telecasts, More

NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika reported earlier this month about the National Hockey League (NHL) garnering 9 Sports Emmy nominations this year. One of those nominations is for the league’s production work on its “NHL × ASL” broadcasts.

The NHL describes the “NHL × ASL” as “an alternate telecast dedicated completely to the Deaf community using American Sign Language.” The broadcasts are co-produced with the team at Deaf inclusion company PXP. The “NHL × ASL” telecast is available exclusively on ESPN+ in the United States and on SportsNet+ in Canada. For its part, PXP describes its mission on its website as advocating for the “access, inclusion, and representation in professional sports for Deaf and hard-of-hearing sports fans.”

“We were just blown away by how the [“NHL × ASL”] took off,” Steve Mayer, the NHL’s president of content and events,” said to Cotsonika. “We’ve always felt like this was so unique and so valuable and meaningful. To be recognized, for a lot of people who put in some spectacular amounts of work, this is just an amazing, amazing accomplishment.”

If the “NHL × ASL” rings a bell, it should. I’ve covered it extensively over the last year or so, having sat down virtually last year with founder and chief executive officer Brice Christianson for an interview about partnering with the NHL to bring the “NHL × ASL” broadcasts to life. Christianson is, like yours truly, a CODA and explained to me in part it’s a “dream come true” to work alongside such an “incredible” partner like the NHL.

“This [partnership with the NHL] has been a partnership that has evolved over the past couple of years,” Christianson told me last year. “It’s a blueprint on how sports teams and leagues can operate with an authentic allyship lens. It’s a blueprint on how access does not have to be complicated. There’s a lot of time that goes into it. Oftentimes it’s restructuring the system, but it really does come down to just communication, belief, and execution. Like I said, I’m not here without the NHL… guaranteed.”

ESPN and TNT, TV partners of the league, nabbed 7 and 2 nominations, respectively.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the nominees earlier this month. The 46th annual event is slated for May 20 at New York City’s Lincoln Center.