Unsilence The Crowd

Client: Sela x Newcastle United

What is it like to experience live football if you can’t hear? Most people’s enduring impression of an English Premier League (EPL) match is the sheer wall of noise – the cheering, the booing, the roar when a goal goes in. Live football is an inherently sonic experience, especially at St. James’ Park, home of Newcastle United (NUFC).

Sela, sponsors of NUFC and specialists in live experiences, recognised an opportunity to help a fan demographic too often overlooked – the Deaf community. Using cutting-edge technology, we developed a world-first: a replica NUFC shirt woven with intelligent sensors that translated the ebbs and flows of crowd noise into a complex “physical language” of pulses, waves, and tingles. The response was ecstatic. Deaf fans called it “transformative” and the initiative won global acclaim, with coverage in 200+ countries/territories (5.08 billion consolidated reach). CNN International even rebuilt their studio to cover the story and be more accessible for future signed coverage. The technology has been used in two major European football tournaments and we are in advanced talks with FIFA to extend that globally, forging a lasting legacy for millions of sports fans with hearing loss.