The Super Bowl Is Heading to a Galaxy Far, Far Away on Disney+

Disney has spent the past year building toward one of the biggest nights in its history: the Super Bowl. When Super Bowl LXI kicks off on February 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, it will mark ESPN’s first-ever Super Bowl production and ABC’s first Super Bowl broadcast since 2006.

The company has been going all in on the event. ESPN launched a year-long campaign immediately after Super Bowl LX, and Disney recently confirmed that the game will also stream on Disney+ alongside the ESPN and ABC broadcasts.

Now, Disney is adding a galactic twist. ESPN, Lucasfilm, Disney and the NFL have announced ‘Star Wars Funday Football’, a real-time animated alternate telecast of Super Bowl LXI set entirely in the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy.

The alternate presentation will stream live on Disney+ and the ESPN App, while also airing on Disney Channel and Disney XD. It marks the first animated alternate presentation of a Super Bowl ever.

The broadcast will recreate every play of the game in real time, transforming the players on the field into animated avatars. Throughout the night, ‘Star Wars’ characters will sub in during key moments, and fans can expect a variety of Easter eggs to pop up along the way.

The technology behind it comes from Sony’s Beyond Sports. It combines player tracking data from the NFL’s Next Gen Stats with optical tracking from Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations, translating live gameplay into animation as it happens. The telecast will also feature a beloved franchise veteran. Anthony Daniels, an original cast member from 1977, is returning to voice C-3PO for the special presentation.

A ‘STAR WARS’ themed telecast of the Super Bowl will air on February 14 on Disney+ The telecast will use NFL player-tracking technology to recreate every play of the game in real time, transforming NFL players into animated Star Wars avatars. https://t.co/uEq2cwGSZE
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 20, 2026

Characters from across the Lucasfilm franchise are set to appear as well. Lucasfilm has promised more details soon, including the visual settings, commentators, and additional characters that will be part of the broadcast.

‘Star Wars Funday Football’ extends Disney’s Emmy-winning Funday Football brand to the sport’s biggest stage. It is the 4th NFL animated alternate telecast from ESPN, Disney and the NFL, following previous games themed around ‘Toy Story’ and ‘The Simpsons’.

The animated version will stream live in markets including the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and more. Viewers in other territories will be able to watch it on demand on Disney+ shortly after the game ends, bringing its reach to more than 155 markets worldwide.

The ‘Star Wars’ takeover isn’t waiting until February. Beginning October 26, the Disney+ SportsCenter offering SC+ will feature an animated Darth Vader interviewing an NFL player taking part in that night’s ‘Monday Night Football’ game.

It’s a clever way to warm audiences up for the main event while keeping the franchise front and center throughout the season. Of course, football purists will still have the classic option. Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge will call the main telecast on ESPN, ABC and Disney+.

A Spanish-language telecast will be available on Disney+ and ESPN Deportes, with a separate Spanish-language presentation on Univision. ESPN is also offering the ManningCast with Peyton and Eli Manning as another alternative way to watch.

With so many viewing options, Disney is clearly aiming to make Super Bowl LXI a celebration that appeals to longtime football fans, families and ‘Star Wars’ devotees alike. Demand for the broadcast is already strong, with ABC and ESPN selling out all commercial inventory earlier than any network in Super Bowl history. If the animated experiment succeeds, it could reshape how younger audiences experience the biggest game of the year.