‘Star Wars’ Headed To Super Bowl LXI For Animated Altcast On Disney+, Disney Channel and Disney XD
Characters from “A Galaxy Far, Far Away” are headed to Super Bowl LXI as ESPN, Lucasfilm and the NFL team up for a Star Wars alternative telecast.
On Sunday, February 14, Disney+, Disney Channel, and Disney XD will air an alternate telecast featuring iconic characters from across the Lucasfilm franchise alongside the AFC and NFC champions, including C-3PO, voiced by original Star Wars cast member Anthony Daniels.
The Star Wars animated telecast will recreate every play of Super Bowl LXI in real time, transforming players on the field into animated avatars, while Star Wars characters sub in during key moments and various Easter eggs appear throughout the game.
Star Wars Funday Football will air alongside the traditional telecast with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, and Laura Rutledge on ESPN, ABC, and Disney+ from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. ESPN’s Spanish-language telecast will be available on Disney+ and ESPN Deportes, with a separate Spanish-language presentation on Univision.
This is the first animated alternative presentation of a Super Bowl. The Star Wars Funday Football altcast follows others from ESPN, Disney, and the NFL, including Toy Story Funday Football (October 2023, Falcons-Jaguars), The Simpsons Funday Football (December 2024, Bengals-Cowboys), and Monsters Funday Football (December 2025, Eagles-Chargers).
ESPN will produce Star Wars Funday Football using data visualization technology from Sony’s Beyond Sports.
Beginning Tuesday, Oct. 20, SC+, ESPN’s daily SportsCenter show on Disney+, will feature Star Wars “Hyperspace Highlights” with plays from Monday Night Football presented with a Star Wars visual theme. Also, starting October 26, SC+ will showcase on Mondays an animated Darth Vader interviewing an NFL player participating in that night’s Monday Night Football game.
