Closed caption services

Events DC is requesting quotations for closed captioning services under RFQ designated exclusively for District of Columbia Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) certified local, small, or disadvantaged business enterprises, with quotations due August 10, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. EST and questions due July 27, 2026 at 3:00 P.M. EST.

The contractor will provide real-time captioning for basketball games, sports events, concerts, and other entertainment at Events DC venues including the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, CareFirst Arena, Nationals Park, and Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. Services include display of captions on Daktronics display boards with multi-language options and 99% accuracy requirement. The contractor must be a Certified Realtime Captioner with one year of experience providing captioning services in stadiums and arenas using Daktronics scoreboards and one year of experience with Eclipse Stenograph or Typewell broadcast captioning suites. The contractor supplies all necessary equipment including stenograph machine and captioning software, provides a dedicated client services specialist and stenographer, and maintains current insurance certificates.

The contract term runs October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027, with four one-year renewal options. Quotations must include fully-loaded fixed hourly rates for remote and onsite captioning services for the base term and all option years; prices remain valid for ninety calendar days. Evaluation is based on lowest aggregate price over the contract's full life. Qualified vendors are eligible to receive a maximum of twelve preference points under certified business enterprise criteria, including categories for small business enterprises, resident-owned businesses, longtime resident businesses, local business enterprises, disadvantaged business enterprises, veteran-owned businesses, and equity impact enterprises.

For contracts exceeding $250,000, the contractor must award at least 35 percent of the total contract value to DSLBD-certified small or certified business enterprises. If the contract exceeds $300,000, the First Source Employment Agreement applies, requiring 51 percent of new hires to be District of Columbia residents.

The primary contact is Macky Cherif, Contracts and Procurement Analyst II, at macky.cherif@eventsdc.com or (202) 249-3038. Quotations must be submitted electronically via OpenGov.