This December, ESPN is giving fans the opportunity to experience both an NFL game and an NBA game in a unique, animated fashion — as only The Walt Disney Company can do.
First, on December 9, ESPN will offer three distinctly different viewing options across six platforms for Monday Night Football’s Week 14 matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys. ESPN, Disney, The Simpsons, and the National Football League will present The Simpsons Funday Football — an animated Monday Night Football game transformed in real-time into the Simpsons world using Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology.
“We do a number of alt-casts at ESPN, and this is the best example of us expanding our audience by reaching beyond the typical sports fan,” Phil Orlins, Vice President, Production, ESPN, says. “It offers us an opportunity — as it’s done before with the NHL Big City Greens Classic and Toy Story Funday Football — to appeal to children as co-viewers with their parents, and now teens, in the case of The Simpsons. It’s a best-case scenario to reach a different audience for ESPN.”
Then, on Christmas Day, Disney, ESPN, and the NBA will team up to present Dunk the Halls — the first real-time animated NBA game using Sony’s Beyond Sports technology, and the first NBA game to stream on Disney+. The alt-cast will be presented on ESPN2, Disney+, and ESPN+, with the New York Knicks hosting the San Antonio Spurs at noon ET/9 a.m. PT. All five NBA Christmas games will also be available on ABC, ESPN, Disney+, and ESPN+.
By utilizing IP from across The Walt Disney Company in its immersive, innovative alt-casts of NBA, NFL, and NHL games, ESPN has been able engage with casual and diehard sports fans alike — while also welcoming new fans who feel a stronger connection to the IP. The NHL Big City Greens Classic was ESPN’s first alt-cast to combine animation with optical tracking technology, and it was a hit with fans from every demo. This month’s alt-casts should be even more spectacular.
“The technology is improving at an incredibly rapid pace,” Orlins says. “Something that was inconceivable five years ago became the first Big City Greens alt-cast, and it’s only gotten better since then.” Beyond Sports makes it possible to combine two data sources and quickly analyze, validate, enhance, and translate to a 3D environment, and then stream to a desired platform in real-time. Plus, Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking creates dynamic player and character movement.
“We have this vivid ability to recreate the actual game action in close to real-time,” he says. “It gets better and better each time we do it — and now, we’re able to show the detailed movements of the players’ limbs, joints, and so forth.”
The Simpsons Funday Football
Thanks to such technological advances, The Simpsons Funday Football is more seamless than ever. Just as Disney Television Animation did for the NHL Big City Greens Classic and Pixar Animation Studios did for Toy Story Funday Football, The Simpsons creators worked closely with ESPN and the NFL on the presentation’s look, sound, and feel to ensure the spirit of the hit series remains intact.
“The participation of The Simpsons creative team is really prevalent in every aspect of this telecast,” Orlins says. “There will be endless jokes that we collaborated on with the team.”
Outside of the live game, The Simpsons producers wrote original content for the telecast that will be utilized before, during, and after the game. Animated segments incorporating ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and others will appear in the telecast, with their segments also written in collaboration with The Simpsons creators. Players from both teams will have pre-recorded segments that include interactions with Simpsons characters.
With Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as the setting, The Simpsons Funday Football will feature Homer Simpson as a Cowboys player and Bart Simpson as a Bengals player. Each will select key moments to play offense and/or defense, replacing a player and joining their fellow teammates on the field. Meanwhile, Marge Simpson and Lisa Simpson will interview players during the game, while Maggie Simpson will fly the SkyCam. Additional characters, references, and more will bring a real Sunday-night-with-the-Simpsons feel to Monday Night Football. “Homer and Bart will make terrible or great plays,” Orlins teases, “depending on the how the game unfolds.”
The Simpsons Funday Football alternate viewing presentation will stream on Disney+ and ESPN+, and, on mobile, with NFL+. The traditional Monday Night Football telecast will be available on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes, with Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli airing on ESPN2. Both the traditional telecast and Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli will stream on ESPN+, with each presentation available in the ESPN app. Telecasts will start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
Dunk the Halls
Dunk the Halls will begin with Mickey asking Santa Claus to bring the NBA players to Main Street, USA, to play the first NBA game at Magic Kingdom Park on Christmas Day. His wish is granted, and he joins Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip and Dale in cheering on the teams at Walt Disney World Resort during the virtual, live re-creation of the game.
Dunk the Halls will feature other famous Magic Kingdom Park landmarks, such as Cinderella Castle. And at halftime, characters will compete in a slam dunk contest. Adding to the magic, Santa’s Elves will operate the cameras, while Santa himself will operate ESPN’s SkyCam during the game. Disney characters will deliver pregame and halftime speeches to the players and also decorate a large Christmas tree during the game.
“The history of the Disney characters is second to none,” Orlin says. “We’re always looking to find the right collaboration with the most exceptional IP, and this was so perfect. Main Street, USA, and the Disney characters felt like they’d fit with the NBA on Christmas Day.”
Through state-of-the-art real-time visualization technology enabled by Beyond Sports, combined with Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking, fans watching Dunk the Halls will see every three-pointer, dunk, layup, and pass, from the real-life game at Madison Square Garden in New York, with each player appearing as a motion-enabled, animated character.
Drew Carter will serve as the play-by-play commentator alongside ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt and will be joined by Daisy Duck, who will serve as the sideline reporter. Carter and McNutt will be animated in the style of the telecast and wear ESPN Edge Innovation Partner’s Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Main Street, USA, utilizing VR technology and Sony’s Beyond Sports’ Virtual Commentator Technology.
Orlins says it’s “mind-boggling” to see the artistry and technology work in tandem, in real-time, during a broadcast like Dunk the Halls. “It’s really, really hard to get your brain around,” he explains. “Even before 2020, to accomplish this would’ve been unimaginable.”
The Future of ESPN’s Alt-Casts
ESPN’s investment in alternate presentations such as The Simpsons Funday Football and Dunk the Halls underscores how The Walt Disney Company is constantly adapting to meet audiences where they are — while also offering something exceptional and unexpected.
“Part of what makes this exciting and interesting to people is that it involves some sort of IP that they already have an interest in, and therefore it makes them curious to experience it and see what it will be like,” Orlins says. “Because of Disney, we at ESPN are incredibly fortunate to create these opportunities for them.”
The results speak for themselves, as past animated alt-casts have not only entertained audiences but also increased overall interest in regular broadcasts of ESPN sporting games.
“In an era where it’s increasingly difficult to get young people to sit and watch sports games in their entirety, we’re now offering a way to see a sports event in a different way — one that may appeal to people before they reach the age where they might want to watch ESPN. It’s just invaluable,” Orlin says. “I also think there’s a real possibility that there is a group of people who will develop a relationship with a sport that they otherwise would not experience. An interest and a curiosity develops from that.”
It’s the kind of magic that only Disney can create.
“We have the best set of assets to do this better than anybody else,” Orlins says. “The strength of the Disney IP is essential; the rights that ESPN holds with the major sports leagues is essential; and the willingness of ESPN to take on the production of the alt-casts is essential. The ability to distribute these on Disney-owned platforms is extraordinary. To have access to Disney+ is extremely important for their success — and for ESPN’s growth.”
