ESPN, Lucasfilm and the NFL are taking the Super Bowl to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars Funday Football, a new animated presentation of Super Bowl LXI coming to Disney+ on Sunday, February 14, 2027.
The first-of-its-kind alternate Super Bowl telecast will recreate the match in real time inside the Star Wars universe, with animated versions of the players taking to the field alongside familiar characters from the franchise.
Anthony Daniels, who has portrayed C-3PO since the original 1977 film, will return to voice the protocol droid. Disney has also released a teaser featuring C-3PO and R2-D2 arriving on a desert planet.
How To Watch ‘Star Wars Funday Football’ In The UK
Disney has confirmed that UK Disney+ subscribers will be able to watch Star Wars Funday Football on demand shortly after the live Super Bowl broadcast. The company has not confirmed that the animated version will be streamed live in the UK.
In the United States, the alternate broadcast will stream live on Disney+ and the ESPN App, and air on Disney Channel and Disney XD, alongside ESPN’s traditional coverage of the game.
Super Bowl LXI takes place on Sunday, February 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Disney has not announced a precise UK on-demand release time for the animated presentation.
The event will reach more than 155 international markets through a combination of live and on-demand availability. Disney has confirmed that several markets, including Australia and New Zealand, will receive live access.
How Will The ‘Star Wars’ Super Bowl Broadcast Work?
Rather than simply placing a Star Wars graphic over the regular sports footage, the alternative telecast will transform every play into animation. NFL players will appear as digital avatars, while well-known Star Wars characters will join key moments in the action.
The production will use Sony’s Beyond Sports visualisation technology alongside player-tracking information from the NFL’s Next Gen Stats and optical tracking from Hawk-Eye Innovations. The aim is to reproduce the action as it happens on the real field.
Disney is promising Easter eggs and familiar characters throughout the telecast, though the setting, commentary team and full character line-up have not yet been revealed.
Why Is Disney Making ‘Star Wars Funday Football’?
The special continues Disney’s Funday Football strand, which has previously reimagined NFL games with characters from Toy Story, The Simpsons and Monsters, Inc. The 2027 broadcast will be the first animated alternate presentation of a Super Bowl.
It also forms part of Lucasfilm’s celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Star Wars. A restored version of the original 1977 film is scheduled to return to cinemas on February 19, 2027, just five days after the game.
Further details are expected in the months leading up to the event. You can read the full announcement on the official Disney+ press website or visit StarWars.com for the announcement and teaser.
For more updates from the franchise, see Popped’s Star Wars coverage.
