Can you imagine following a football match at the stadium without the slightest sound? No. However, this is the ordeal experienced by many supporters around the world. To remedy this, the English club Newcastle will test an innovation this weekend: a jersey for deaf and hard of hearing supporters.
Concretely, microphones will be hidden all around the St James’ Park stadium before and during the meeting this Saturday between the Magpies and Tottenham Spurs. Once the sound has been recovered, sensors placed within the tunics are supposed to transform the noises of the stadium into sensations for the deaf and hard of hearing person.
#NUFC and @Sela have created a first in football, delivering a spectacular experience for deaf fans helping them to feel the atmosphere of a live football match.
The “Unsilence The Crowd” campaign follows the journey of lifelong fans, Ryan and David, as they feel the passion of… pic.twitter.com/vHdl7Z5qhh
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) April 11, 2024
The aim is to allow deaf and hard of hearing people to “feel all the atmosphere and excitement of St James’ Park”, explains the club. “It’s not just the people who are close to you that you feel in the jersey. You feel the chants and cheers from people throughout the stadium. And you feel them in different parts of the jersey,” Ryan Genz, co-founder of the company behind its special Cute Circuit jerseys, tried to explain to our colleagues at the BBC. Waiting to hear back from the main people involved!
