ESPN, Lucasfilm and the NFL are turning Super Bowl LXI into a live Star Wars cartoon. Star Wars Funday Football will stream on Disney+ and the ESPN App and air on Disney Channel and Disney XD on Sunday, February 14, 2027. Anthony Daniels, who has played C-3PO since the first Star Wars in 1977, returns to voice the droid as Star Wars celebrates its 50th anniversary.
How it works: Every real play from the Super Bowl turns into animation as it happens. The players become animated characters, Star Wars characters jump in at big moments, and hidden Easter eggs pop up during the game. It works by tracking every player on the field with NFL data and Sony cameras.
This is ESPN’s first Super Bowl, and every Disney+ subscriber in the U.S. can stream it. The regular game airs on ESPN, ABC and Disney+ with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. You can also watch Peyton and Eli on ESPN2, Pat McAfee on ESPNU or a Next Gen Stats version on NFL Network. The Spanish version is on Disney+ and ESPN Deportes.
SC+, ESPN’s daily SportsCenter show on Disney+, now has Star Wars “Hyperspace Highlights” of Monday Night Football plays. Starting October 26, an animated Darth Vader will interview an NFL player every Monday.
This is the fourth animated NFL game, but the first Super Bowl. Toy Story Funday Football came first in 2023 and won three Sports Emmys. The Simpsons Funday Football followed in 2024. Last December, Monsters Funday Football turned the Eagles and Chargers into Monsters, Inc. characters. Disney has also done it with the NBA, with Dunk the Halls on Christmas Day, and with the NHL, with the Big City Greens Classic and the Inside Out Classic.
Five days after the Super Bowl, a newly restored version of the original 1977 Star Wars returns to theaters on Friday, February 19. Disney says more details on the animated game, like the look, the announcers and which characters show up, are coming closer to February.
Our take: We are not fans. Toy Story Funday Football was a technical disaster, and Monsters Funday Football barely had any characters on the field. It just is not fun to watch. We have not asked a toddler if they think this is a good idea, but we will not be watching. And with how much betting is involved in sports these days, just leave Star Wars out of it. The only one of these that has worked for us is Dunk the Halls, the NBA’s Christmas Day game.
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