3 Ways Sports and Entertainment Connects to People with Disabilities
Disabilities are not stopping people from thriving in sports and entertainment. One league that has shown that is the MLB.
In 2015, Curtis Pride was named the league’s Ambassador for Inclusion. It’s one thing to bring an 11-year MLB veteran into the league office for a new role. But Pride is no run-of-the-mill former player, as the Washington D.C. native has pushed past being a person who is 95% deaf his entire life. He was the league’s first player suffering from deafness since 1945 and the first to play a full season in the MLB’s modern era.
Pride — who’s also become a two-time NEAC Coach of the Year with Gallaudet University, a school primarily for students who are deaf and hard of hearing — has done his due diligence in uplifting others through the game of baseball. Over the years, he’s run free baseball clinics and held meet-and-greet events for those in the community of people who are deaf.
The former MLB outfielder also started the Together With Pride Foundation, which offers more than just baseball programming, like literacy training, mentoring support, scholarships, a hearing aid bank of new and refurbished hearing aids, and even fishing clinics.
The MLB has specifically stood out when it comes to people who are hearing impaired. Hall of Fame general manager John Schuerholz constructed two World Series teams with the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves, despite being a person who is partially deaf. And just here in 2022, the New York Mets honored late team mail worker Tod Tillotson by renaming their mail room after the employee who suffered from deafness following his passing in 2021.
Being a person who is deaf — partially or wholly restricted in hearing — is one of the many disabilities that 1 billion people (15% of the world’s population) face daily. And as sports and entertainment organizations, it’s on them to be more inclusive towards the community of people with disabilities; whether that’s spectators with disabilities (SwDs), members of your staff with disabilities, or connecting with the community of disabled people through outreach efforts.
Consider this: the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2021 that 19.1% of people with at least one physical or intellectual disability were employed. While there were improvements there from 2020’s figure (17.9%) and unemployment rates were down 10.1% from then too, there are still other troubling numbers about employment for people with disabilities.
Across all age groups listed (16–64 and 65+), people with disabilities were least likely to be employed. Also for all educational attainment groups — no high school, high school/GED, partial college, Associate and Bachelor’s Degrees — people with disabilities were more likely to be unemployed than their non-disabled counterparts.
As an organization in sports and entertainment, how can you help buck these trends?
Here’s The Breakdown on disabilities in sports and entertainment: how can you make for a more inclusive culture for employees and consumers with disabilities?
1/Understanding Disabilities and the Impact of Surroundings
Disabilities are simply something that puts one at a disadvantage in some form. For us humans, the most common disabilities we see in people are physical (ie: amputation or lost limb, muscular dystrophy), intellectual/developmental (ie: autism, down syndrome), and sensory impairment (ie: deafness, blindness).
While it may be more identifiable to see a person with only one arm as having a disability, it can be tougher in terms of seeing other disabilities.
Being knowledgeable of these different forms of disabilities is imperative, especially as a sports organization looking to connect with fans across all demographics. When hosting fans in the stands, you must take into consideration the SwDs’ experience may be far different from one of a consumer without disabilities.
Research Gate released a peer-reviewed study in 2022 to analyze the accessibility of sporting venues for SwDs. This helped develop a Stadium Accessibility Scale (SAS). Although the study is primarily based on information at soccer stadiums overseas, some of the information found indicates themes of how stadiums can be more accommodating for SwDs even here in the U.S.
- Both human and physical resources were cited as areas that must improve. The suggested actions include the layout of seating, better signage and sight lines for the visually impaired, using removable seats in front of wheelchair spaces, as well as overall better use of technology for the gameday experience.
- At the same time, there needs to be a push to ensure the SwDs are included. For example, it may help them if the section in front of the wheelchair row is not available for sale or if other spectators are not allowed to stand and block this row’s view during play. But one unintended consequence is relegating the SwDs to an area that is not accessible to their spectator friends who do not have disabilities, which may isolate them.
- Human resources may be the first step to providing a better experience. A staff dedicated solely to SwDs that provides services on request was suggested (ie: the Disability Liaison Officers in the German Bundesliga soccer league). Also, the emphasis on a staff who is vested in the SwDs is sought after, as the study shared that the attitude of staff members may be intangible, but can cause the most substantial roadblock when it’s not receptive enough. One possible way to offset that is sensitivity training on working with those in the community of people with disabilities.
- Communication is always key, but this was specifically noted for working with patrons who have disabilities. Your communication can help (or hinder) your cause in the event experience for your consumers. This point is tied directly to the issues seen by the competitors with pre-game information in 2012’s Summer Paralympic Games in London, England.
2/DEI for the Community of People with Disabilities
When it comes to the treatment of consumers and staff in the sports world, some organizations have shown to be ahead of others in how they connect with the community of people with disabilities. So we decided to check in with someone within the sports industry who can add perspective from being in the population of people with disabilities.
Bryce Weiler is one of the most unique figures in all of sports and entertainment. Despite being a person who is blind his entire life, the Claremont, Illinois native first gained notoriety as a broadcaster for various collegiate sports in Illinois. Since then, he’s served in many roles throughout sports, but he now works with the Baltimore Orioles as a Disability Consultant. He is also a co-founder of The Beautiful Lives Project, which has created programming to enhance the lives of people with disabilities by way of sports throughout the U.S. and across the world.
Here’s what he had to say about the organizations that he’s worked with that have been highly inclusive towards the community of people with disabilities:
“The sports teams are doing a great job of making their stadiums more accessible for fans of all disabilities,” Weiler said. “Teams are putting in sensory-friendly areas, they’re also eliminating the time delay on regular broadcasts for me when I’m listening to the game on the radio.”
Weiler has enjoyed working with the Orioles because he believes it’s been a top-down concentration on providing a better experience for those in the population of people with disabilities. That has helped the team make its home venue (Camden Yards) and its spring training venue (Ed Smith Stadium) more accessible for all fans.
“The Orioles [players and coaches were] also the first team in sports to wear braille on their jerseys to show the importance of people that are blind learning how to read braille,” said Weiler of the Orioles’ 2018 special uniforms worn against the Toronto Blue Jays. “The staff as a whole has [gone] beyond just the fact of a baseball game on the field and they view baseball as a tool to help people with disabilities to have life-changing moments and to show what people who have disabilities are capable of doing if they are only given opportunities.”
While Weiler has noted some of the good, there are other things that he hopes organizations improve on as well.
“I hope teams begin putting alt text on social media posts because a lot of that helps people who are blind and those who have learning disabilities,” he said.
“Also, teams should begin putting other descriptions on as many videos as they could, because that helps a range of people who have disabilities; those who are blind, people who have learning disabilities … people don’t often think about people who have learning disabilities or think about the range of learning disabilities. Some people have trouble reading written text.
“So having things in a video-based format and a picture-based format will help certain learning disabilities to better be able to understand the context of both websites and social media posts.”
3/What are Organizations Doing and Where are the jobs?
- Community Outreach
Community outreach efforts are one of the purest ways to engage with consumers. But they also allow organizations to highlight communities that may be in need or are underrepresented. Take a look at some of the outreach efforts that sports and entertainment organizations have produced to connect to individuals with disabilities over the years.
- Like the Orioles, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans also wore jerseys with American Sign Language lettering, and they also had a fully signed national anthem by Certified Deaf Interpreter Jason Hurdich, a silent inning, interpreters throughout the park, a free jersey raffle for community members who are deaf, and a jersey auction raising money for charity. As they earned Baseball Digest’s promotion of the year in 2018, many of the Pelicans’ products became available on the team’s shop online and helped start a trend that other teams in the league have followed. Fittingly, Curtis Pride was very involved with this event as well.
- Sticking with baseball, teams in the MLB have held Autism Awareness Nights throughout the league in recent years. Many of these events have been held in April, which is Autism Awareness Month. A few components adapted for these games include lower PA volume in certain sections of the parks, access to sensory rooms, and Autism Awareness-themed merchandise.
- PLAY International — a French non-government-backed non-profit organization that is committed to education and social change through the lens of sports — has been working on a specific project called PLAY’In Together since 2019. This program is aiming to construct a more inclusive environment for kids in Europe with disabilities and draw them towards getting involved in sports through the promotion of the values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
- Assisting Disabled Spectators
Working with the community of people with disabilities at events can be addressed in several ways. Here are just some options you can implement into your in-arena or in-stadium departments for the game-day experience.
Guest services:
However it’s described by your organization (Guest Relations, Guest Communications, Guest Experience Team) guest service roles on-site and in-stadium are readily available with most teams, stadiums, and other organizations throughout the industry. Whether full-time or part-time, as an assistant or as a manager, guest service jobs are wide-ranging — and you can find them right on TeamWork Online.
Graphic Design:
Graphic design roles in stadiums can also bridge this gap for SwDs when it comes to signage and non-verbal communication. Sporting Kansas City of the MLS has a role like that on its staff and the role is described to be engaging with guests on match days, as well as executing graphics for matchday communication channels (digital/social, email, in-venue, etc.).
- Staff Members with Disabilities
To be as inclusive as possible, you must seek ways for those in the community of people with disabilities to find roles on your staff. While it may be easy or natural to assume that those in this community may be held back by their respective disabilities, there are some who are truly finding ways to combat that and thrive in sports and entertainment.
- In order to quell the employment issues athletes may have in their post-playing days (especially in the population of those with disabilities), the Special Olympics has brought on former athletes in myriad roles. Jerry Holy (Data Analysis, Grant Administration, and Resource Management), Callum Denault (Journalism and Communication Intern), Ben Collins (Operations Specialist — Marketing/Communications), Megan Galarowicz and Edward Kastern (Unified Leadership Specialists), and Daniel Morales (Communications Team Member) are some of the first athlete names to embark on these roles within Special Olympics’ history.
- Sports apparel giant Nike — which was once again listed as the highest-valued apparel brand in the world in Brand Finance’s 2022 annual review — has its Supported Employment Program based at its Beaverton, Oregon headquarters. The program sets out to hire individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities with open positions. Nike also offers accommodations for candidates with disabilities, including sign language, screen readers, accessible locations for in-person interviews, modified devices, and closed captioning.
Weiler also wanted to provide feedback in terms of an area he believes the sports and entertainment industry can work on in terms of hiring practices.
“Teams should have human resources staff trained in sign language. They should also have staff that knows how to read braille. Staff should also have documents in large print or in both contracted and uncontracted braille,” Weiler said. “Staff should set up a budget to purchase necessary accommodations for people with disabilities. … The teams or companies should also analyze every job to determine how people with various disabilities could fill the role. They should then send these roles out to both local, as well as, national groups for people with disabilities.”
Conclusion:
The connection between sports and the community of people with disabilities has had its moments, but improvement is always welcome. Especially considering just how difficult it is for people with disabilities to find jobs, sports and entertainment companies can help champion them by striving for more inclusive gameday experiences, outreach efforts, and workplaces.
While it may be unprecedented to have a person with disabilities on your staff, underestimating these candidates’ abilities may be holding you back from adding a successful team member. Like Mr. Weiler, who focused on his broadcast partner’s words and the sounds of the game (in any sport) whenever he was in the booth.
Or Ben Collins, who was able to share with the world a day in his work life on World Sight Day 2020. His “Welcome to My World” workshop showed that even while being visually impaired, he still communicates through email and is able to fulfill the responsibilities of his role, despite some of the challenges with certain programs and technological features that are intended to help him.
Looking for more Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion pieces? We’ve got a list of stories about DEI efforts in sports and entertainment: How Should You Navigate Job Searches as a Diverse Applicant?, 3 Ways Sports Organizations are Connecting with HBCUs, and 5 Ways to Build Diversity and Inclusion Into Your Hiring Process.
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