On February 18, 2026, I reached out to Tim Horton’s regarding their advertisement displayed on the Jumbotron during the London Knights hockey game. My communication aimed to raise awareness about the importance of accessibility in arena messaging, specifically related to closed captioning. In my email, I highlighted that Tim Hortons, as a prominent supporter of Canadian hockey, has advertisements at these games that are not accessible to all fans due to the lack of captioning. This concern was echoed by both hearing and deaf or hard of hearing fans, many of whom reported being unable to understand what is being said in the advertisements, consistently responding with, “no idea what is being said.” This points to a significant gap for advertisers and a missed opportunity to engage a broader audience.

I encouraged Tim Horton’s to review the CBC links I provided and consider becoming one of the first sponsors to help make this advocacy a reality. By enhancing accessibility in arena messaging, sponsors can ensure that all fans, regardless of hearing ability, are able to fully engage with and understand the content presented at OHL games.

On March 3, 2026, I received a reply from Zack Pryzbek, Director, Marketing, Sponsorships & Charitable Programs at Tim Horton’s. Zack responded:

Hi Laurie

Thank you for your email. We will fix this moving forward. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Zack

I am very pleased with Tim Horton’s response and look forward to seeing closed captioning added to their advertisements during hockey games. This positive outcome demonstrates the potential for sponsors to lead the way in making arena messaging accessible to all fans.