Super Bowl LXI is getting a Star Wars broadcast, with every play recreated as live animation and Anthony Daniels returning to voice C-3PO. ESPN, Lucasfilm, Disney and the NFL announced Star Wars Funday Football for Sunday, February 14, 2027.
The alternate presentation will stream on Disney+ and the ESPN App and air on Disney Channel and Disney XD. It will run alongside the traditional Super Bowl telecast, giving viewers a separate Star Wars version of the same game.
How Star Wars Funday Football Will Work
NFL players will become animated avatars as the game unfolds. Star Wars characters will substitute into the action at key moments, and the broadcast will include Easter eggs throughout the game.
Daniels, who played C-3PO in the original 1977 film, is confirmed for the animated presentation. ESPN says additional characters, commentators and visual settings will be announced as the game approaches.
Sony’s Beyond Sports will provide the data visualization technology. The production combines the NFL’s Next Gen Stats player-tracking data with optical tracking from Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations to translate the live action into animation.
Where to Watch on February 14
The Star Wars presentation has four announced U.S. viewing options: Disney+, the ESPN App, Disney Channel and Disney XD.
The traditional Super Bowl LXI broadcast from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, will be available on ESPN, ABC and Disney+, with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge. TPS previously covered Disney+ adding Super Bowl LXI streaming.
International live availability for Star Wars Funday Football will include Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands and other announced markets. Canadian viewers will have access through TSN+.
The animated game will also be available on demand on Disney+ shortly after the live broadcast in those markets and additional regions, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany and South Korea.
Darth Vader Joins the Football Build-Up
The Star Wars programming starts before Super Bowl Sunday. Beginning October 20, SC+, ESPN’s daily SportsCenter show on Disney+, will feature “Hyperspace Highlights,” presenting Monday Night Football plays with a Star Wars visual theme.
Starting October 26, the show will also feature an animated Darth Vader interviewing an NFL player involved in that night’s Monday Night Football game. Those interviews will appear on Mondays.
This will be the fourth animated NFL alternate telecast from ESPN, Disney and the NFL, following the Toy Story game in 2023, The Simpsons in 2024 and Monsters in 2025.
The broadcast also falls during Lucasfilm’s celebration of 50 years of Star Wars. A newly restored version of the original 1977 film is scheduled to return to theaters February 19, five days after the Super Bowl. For more from the franchise, read about the practical filmmaking behind The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Source: ESPN Press Room
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