Super Bowl LXI will be the first Super Bowl to get an animated alternate broadcast. ESPN, Lucasfilm, Disney and the NFL will run Star Wars Funday Football alongside the main telecast on 14 February 2027, recreating every play from SoFi Stadium in real time with the players turned into animated avatars and Star Wars characters dropping into key moments. Anthony Daniels, C-3PO since 1977, returns to voice the droid.
The animation runs on Sony's Beyond Sports technology, which combines the NFL's Next Gen Stats player tracking with Hawk-Eye optical tracking. It is the fourth animated NFL broadcast from the partners after Toy Story (2023, three Sports Emmys), The Simpsons (2024) and Monsters (2025), and the first time the format has been put on the biggest game of the season.
The feed streams on Disney+ and the ESPN App and airs on Disney Channel and Disney XD in the US, with live or on-demand access in more than 155 markets. It is one of several versions of the game ESPN is offering in its first Super Bowl production: the main call with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on ESPN, ABC and Disney+, a Peyton and Eli Manning broadcast on ESPN2, a Pat McAfee show on ESPNU, a Next Gen Stats feed on NFL Network, and Spanish-language coverage on ESPN Deportes and Univision.
The timing suits Lucasfilm, which marks 50 years of Star Wars with a restored release of the original film in cinemas five days after the game. More details, including the commentators and settings, are due closer to February.
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Original summary by Proventier.