Cheerleaders pop and lock and leap. Lights twinkle all about the stands. Fans covered in gold and purple chant, “Skol.”

U.S. Bank Stadium is the place to be on Minnesota Vikings game day. 

Yet, Jillian Nelson’s family doesn’t attend.

“When there’s a sensory space that allows you the inclusion to be there and participate in what you want, you will go,” said Nelson, who has two family members on the autism spectrum. “We don’t go there because the system is ineffective.”

Nelson, working with the public policy committee of the Autism Society of Minnesota, has been working on a series of legislative packages that would require local venues to go beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The goal, Nelson said, is to expand accessibility features to include people who are neurodiverse.

With the kickoff of a new National Football League season, advocates like Nelson are reflecting on the progress made in stadiums while holding them to higher standards.

The playbook

David Dively is the executive director of the Minnesota Council on Disability. Since the 1980s, his council has been evaluating and pressing for accommodations in buildings — including stadiums. 

“[Accessibility] is not a new thing, but there’s also always new things happening,”    Dively said. “It’s exciting.” 

In 1990, former President George W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. Before that, the only spaces legally required to accommodate people with disabilities were government buildings. 

The ADA created a “major shift” for stadiums, Dively said. It set new design expectations, including the provision of accessible seating, parking, aisles, toilet stalls and much more. 

Stadiums are subject to state building codes, too. For instance, in May 2023, Gov. Tim Walz signed into law that adult changing facilities be added to the state building code, according to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Now, U.S. Bank Stadium houses one adult changing table. 

The ADA and state building codes both “set the floor” for accessibility in stadiums, Dively said. However, many stadiums offer accessibility features that are not required by law.

Setting new norms  

“What happens for a lot of these recommendations is they start in the disability community, as a best practice, and then people advocate [for] it,” Dively said. “Over time, they become norms.” 

Assisted listening devices are one of these norms. The state of Missouri does not require the provision of ALDs, yet Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Chiefs, offers them. The devices amplify public address announcements to people who are hard of hearing, according to Arrowhead Stadium. Some NFL stadiums broadcast a radio feed of the game through them, but not all. 

Dively said that there is room for improvement when it comes to ALDs. The newest version of the devices operate on Wi-Fi or cell service.

“People know, from going to concerts and things, trying to film or send someone a text, you can have a blackout, basically for hours, because it’s so dense,” Divley said. 

The sensory room

Sensory rooms are another example of unmandated accessibility features installed in NFL stadiums.

“‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that this exists. This is amazing. I would have had to leave the game without it,’” Gina Brady said, imitating visitors of U.S. Bank Stadium. 

Brady works for Fraser, a nonprofit organization in Minnesota that provides services for people with autism, disabilities and mental health conditions. As the Sensory Supports and Training Program Manager, Brady partners with local businesses that wish to increase their accessibility. 

In 2019, Fraser took on a new project with the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings had just finished construction on a sensory room, complete with features meant to block overwhelming sights and sounds. These include soundproof walls, comfortable seating, bean bag chairs, fidgets, coloring sheets and a single stall bathroom. 

“Once it got to the point of launching the room, the Vikings reached out to us at Fraser because they were feeling like they needed just a little bit of that day-to-day support,” Brady said.

During games, two Fraser employees facilitate the use and transitions out of the space.

“We have been at every home game since 2019, minus the [COVID-19] year, when there were no fans in the stadium,” Brady said. 

What makes the sensory room a success is how age-inclusive it is, Brady said. She referenced the variety in seating options and tools in the room. 

“I would say it’s been a wonderful example of how a sensory room can benefit people of all ages,” Brady said.

Nelson wouldn’t agree. 

“When we think about who the target market audience is for stadiums, especially in the NFL, or stadiums like U.S. Bank that have a lot of concerts, our target market truly is adults,” Nelson said. “But we aren’t really marketing all of our sensory spaces to be inclusive of neurodiverse adults.”   

In her role at AuSM, Nelson works with families that have members with special needs. U.S. Bank Stadium is not “the favorite place,” she said. 

“It’s appreciated that there’s a place to take a break when needed, but families do wish that there was more of an opportunity to be able to be a part of what’s happening.” 

The 3M Sensory Room does not have a window overlooking the field, nor a television streaming the game, Brady said. 

Nelson finds this to be problematic.  

“If you’re there for a game or a concert, in order to get any type of sensory support, you have to leave the space, so you’re missing out on the event that you’re paying to be a part of,” Nelson said. 

Brady said the lack of a window and television is somewhat intentional. 

“Because the room is so small, [we’re] wanting to encourage people to use it as long as they need to, but then to exit the room,” Brady said. “If they could watch the game from there, people might stay longer, and then it would be harder to have it available for others to use.” 

To the goalpost

Dively, Brady and Nelson all hope for more accessibility in NFL stadiums. 

More space for sensory support in U.S. Bank Stadium would allow Fraser to support more people in different ways, Brady said. There would be more wheelchair accessibility, more room for people to move their bodies and more age-inclusive amenities. 

“Allowing multiple different sensory needs to be met in one larger space, I think, would be a really great goal to work towards,” Brady said. 

It’s ideal that every door of every stadium is power-assisted, Dively added. 

“It’s the maximal way for people to be independent in those spaces. And that’s really important,” Dively said.