ESPN, Lucasfilm, Disney and the NFL will turn Super Bowl LXI into a “Star Wars” cartoon for families, with an animated alternate telecast scheduled for Feb. 14, 2027. The broadcast, titled “Star Wars Funday Football,” will stream live on Disney+ and the ESPN App and air on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Anthony Daniels, an original 1977 cast member, will reprise C-3PO. ESPN teased the project Monday night with a short video of C-3PO and R2-D2 discussing their Super Bowl plans.
The production will recreate the game as it happens. Players on the field become animated avatars, while “Star Wars” characters sub in during key moments and Easter eggs appear throughout. Sony’s Beyond Sports technology drives the animation, combining the NFL’s Next Gen Stats tracking data with Sony’s Hawk-Eye optical tracking.
The telecast sets a precedent. It is the first animated alternate presentation of a Super Bowl, and the fourth animated NFL alternate telecast from ESPN, Disney and the league. Earlier children’s versions of the game relied on live action. CBS and Paramount+ offered a slime-filled alternate broadcast on Nickelodeon for the 2024 game, with players from the “SpongeBob SquarePants” universe.
The animated option sits beside a larger Disney push. Super Bowl LXI is ESPN’s first Super Bowl production, and the traditional broadcast will air on ESPN and ABC from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge on the call.
ABC last carried the game in 2006, and this will mark the first Super Bowl streamed on Disney+. The ESPN App will also carry the ManningCast with Peyton and Eli on ESPN2. Advertisers have already responded to the hype. Disney said ABC and ESPN sold all commercial inventory by August, the earliest sellout by a network in Super Bowl history.
The “Star Wars” version gives Disney a way to draw children and casual viewers to its networks on one of television’s biggest nights while parents watch the main game elsewhere in the house. Disney has not said how it will count viewership for the alternate feed.
