Some blind fans to experience Super Bowl with tactile device that tracks ball

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Some blind fans to experience Super Bowl with tactile device that tracks ball

2026-01-29 20:26 Last Updated At：20:30

Some blind and low-vision fans will have unprecedented access to the Super Bowl thanks to a tactile device that tracks the ball, vibrates on key plays and provides real-time audio.

The NFL teamed up with OneCourt and Ticketmaster to pilot the game-enhancing experience 15 times during the regular-season during games hosted by the Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings.

About 10 blind and low-vision fans will have an opportunity to use the same technology at the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California, where Seattle will play the New England Patriots on Feb. 8. With hands on the device, they will feel the location of the ball and hear what's happening throughout the game.

Scott Thornhill can't wait.

Thornhill, the executive director of the American Council of the Blind, will be among the fans at Levi’s Stadium with a OneCourt tablet in their lap and Westwood One's broadcast piped into headphones. He was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when he was 8, and later lost his sight.

“It will allow me to engage and enjoy the game as close as possible as people who can see,” Thornhill told The Associated Press. “As someone who grew up playing sports before I lost my vision, I'm getting a big part of my life back that I've been missing. To attend a game and not have to wait for someone to tell me what happened, it's hard to even describe how much that means to me.

“It's a game-changer.”

Clark Roberts experienced it first hand.

The Seahawks fan was invited by the team to attend its home game against Indianapolis on Dec. 14 to experience the game with the OneCourt device that is the size of a thick iPad with raised lines outlining a football field.

“The device does two wonderful things,” said Roberts, who lost his sight when he was 24 due to retinitis pigmentosa. "It vibrates in different ways for different plays and through headphones, I was able to hear Seattle's amazing announcer, Steve Raible. Real-time audio is the real beauty of the device because usually when I'm listening to a game, there can be a delay of up to a minute or more and that can be challenging to constantly ask family and friends what happened.

“Can you imagine how this can open up everything, not just football?"

OneCourt is working on it.

It has partnered with NBA and Major League Baseball teams to provide its devices at games and is in talks to make them available with the NHL, along with other leagues and sports organizations all over the world.

OneCourt launched in 2023 after founder Jerred Mace saw a blind person attending a soccer match while he was a junior at the University of Washington.

The startup with headquarters in Seattle uses the NFL's tracking data from Genius Sports and translates it into feedback for the device to create unique vibrations for plays such as tackles and touchdowns.

The data is generated from cameras and chips embedded in balls, jerseys and elsewhere. The same technology is used by the NFL's NextGen Stats for health and player safety, statistics and gambling.

“It's a testament to the maturity of the product and our company that we have gone from delivering this to a handful of teams throughout the last year or two to having it at the largest event in American sports,” OneCourt co-founder Antyush Bollini said. “The Super Bowl is such an amazing event and now blind and low-vision fans can use our technology in a way they deserve."

Ticketmaster's funding for the NFL pilot went toward underwriting the device to make it available to fans for free, according to senior client development director Scott Aller.

“This is a very, very big social impact win,” Aller said. "We hope that we can make an investment like this in every single one of our markets.”

After some teams approached the league about improving access for all, the NFL has spent the past few months piloting the program and ultimately decided to have the device make its Super Bowl debut.

“It’s not lost on us that we have blind to low-vision fans and we want to do right by them,” said Belynda Gardner, senior director of diversity equity and inclusion for the NFL.

Gardner said the league has been very encouraged by the pilot and potential of this technology.

“We’re reviewing what we learned and evaluating how it can be implemented going forward,” Gardner said. “There aren’t any definitive next steps and we will use the offseason to determine where this technology sits in the NFL’s suite of offerings.”

Thomas Rice, a Jaguars fans, who is blind, said he had a seamless experience with the OneCourt device at a game in Jacksonville. Rice picked up the tablet at guest services at EverBank Stadium and after settling in at his seat, he felt and heard football in a new way.

“When Trevor Lawrence threw a touchdown pass to Brian Thomas Jr., I felt the ball travel through the air," Rice said. "When Travis Etienne ran the ball, I could feel it happen along the sideline.”

“It was like giving me my own pair of eyes.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Vietnam and the EU upgrade ties as US tariffs reshape global trade

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam and the European Union on Thursday upgraded ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Vietnam’s highest diplomatic level, as both recalibrate trade during disruptions to global finance driven by U.S. tariff pressure.

The upgrade places the EU on the same diplomatic footing as the United States, China and Russia and was announced during a visit to Hanoi by European Council President António Costa.

“At a moment when the international rules-based order is under threat from multiple sides, we need to stand side by side as reliable and predictable partners,” Costa said, adding that the partnership is about “developing spheres of shared prosperity.”

Costa arrived in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi after India and the European Union reached a free trade agreement on Tuesday after nearly two decades of negotiation.

Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong called the move a “historic milestone.”

The announcement comes less than a week after Vietnam reelected Communist Party General Secretary To Lam as the country’s top leader, endorsing his vision of economic growth driven by aggressive reforms.

Vietnam has been a major beneficiary of globalization, emerging as a key export hub for electronics, garments and consumer goods as multinational firms shifted production away from China.

That export-led growth has helped lift incomes and transform the economy, but Vietnam’s large and persistent trade surplus has drawn criticism, particularly from the U.S. and increasingly from Europe, where officials have raised concerns about market access.

For the EU, the deal strengthens access to one of Asia’s fastest-growing manufacturing hubs and supports efforts to diversify supply chains as trade tensions increase.

Bilateral trade in the first 11 months of 2025 reached more than $66.8 billion, up 6.6% from a year earlier. The EU is Vietnam’s fourth-largest trading partner, third-largest export market and fifth-largest import source. Vietnam is the EU’s biggest trading partner in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam hopes to continue growth to become a rich nation by 2045 and is aggressively seeking new markets to reduce reliance on the U.S., which is its largest export destination that absorbs about 30% of the goods Vietnam sends abroad. The two sides signed a free trade agreement in 2020.