Matt Schramm/Chris Best ADA Case Summary 9/21/16
Sports Venues Facing Legal Battles
Legal Issue:
Whether or not ADA requires stadiums and venues to close caption all of the oral
information that is heard in a stadium during an event, including things like public
address announcements, emergency info, and music playing during plays and
timeouts.
Facts Surrounding These Cases:
• In the ADA case involving the University of Maryland, the National
Association for the Deaf sued because of the university’s “Long stand and
continuing failure to provide captioning of announcements and commentary
made over the public address systems during athletic events at Byrd Stadium
and the Comcast Center.”
– The plaintiffs argued that they could not fully enjoy the football
game without the provision of auxiliary aids and services,
while the university argued that they were compliant with the
law because they offered closed captioning of all game
announcements through a smart phone accessible website
• In the ADA case involving the Arizona Cardinals, the Arizona attorney general
sued, “Demanding captioning for the deaf on all monitors in the University of
Phoenix Stadium.”
