ESPN, Disney, the Simpsons, and the National Football League will premiere The Simpsons Funday Football on Monday, Dec. 9, an animated Monday Night Football game transformed in real-time into the iconic Simpsons world using Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology. Atoms Stadium in Springfield will host the fully immersive fan viewing experience featuring the Cincinnati Bengals at the Dallas Cowboys, ESPN’s Monday Night Football game that evening.
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 on ESPN2. The traditional telecast and Peyton and Eli will also be on ESPN+, making each presentation available in the ESPN App. All telecasts will begin at 8 p.m. ET.
The legendary Simpsons creators have collaborated on the look, sound, and feel with ESPN and the NFL to ensure the authenticity of the longest-running primetime scripted series with more than 750 episodes. This is the second consecutive year ESPN, Disney and the NFL have presented a Funday Football telecast.
State-of-the-Art Technology: The Simpsons Funday Football Features Every Play of Bengals-Cowboys Game
Each Bengals and Cowboys player will appear as a motion-enabled, animated player for the special primetime matchup. Through state-of-the-art tracking technology enabled by NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Sony’s Beyond Sports, combined with Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking, fans enjoying The Simpsons Funday Football will see every snap, run, pass, score, and more from the real-life Bengals and Cowboys matchup at AT&T Stadium as it happens.
Sony’s Beyond Sports makes it possible to combine two data sources, analyze, validate, enhance, translate to a 3D environment, and stream to a desired platform in real-time and Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking creates dynamic player and character movement, including detailed limb movement and mannerisms.
Bart and the Bengals, Homer and the Cowboys Headline Presentation with Classic Simpson Characters and Humor
With Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as the setting, The Simpsons Funday Football will be a true family affair as Bart Simpson sides with Joe Burrow and the Bengals while Homer aligns with Dak Prescott and the Cowboys. Bart and Homer will let their new Bengals and Cowboys teammates manage the action for most of the game, but the iconic father and son duo won’t sit on the sidelines for the entire game. Each will select key opportunities to play offense and/or defense, replacing a player and joining his other 10 teammates on the field.
Surrounding the gameplay, Marge and Lisa will interview players during the game and Maggie will fly the SkyCam, while popular characters, show references and aesthetics will bring a real Sunday-night-with-the-Simpsons feel to Monday Night Football.
- A Myriad of Simpsons Characters: The telecast will feature dozens the show’s iconic characters, with each character playing into their well-known persona.
- Authentic Simpsons Voices: Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith will voice several of their characters in prerecorded bits and skits.
- Picking Sides: Homer and Bart will rally their supporters who will join them on their respective sidelines throughout the matchup. Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will be with Bart (Bengals); while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe will be with Homer (Cowboys).
- Custom Simpsons Scenes and Writing: Outside of the live game, Simpsons producers have written original content for the telecast that will be utilized before, during and after the game.
- The Simpsons Music: The timeless theme song and more jingles from the show will be employed.
- The Simpsons and ESPN: Animated segments incorporating Stephen A. Smith, Peyton and Eli Manning and more will appear in the telecast, with their segments written by the Simpsons creators.
- Bengals and Cowboys Players: Players from both teams will have pre-recorded segments which include interactions with Simpsons characters.
ESPN’s In-House NFL Personalities, Simpsons Fans to Call the Action
The Simpsons Funday Football will have its own animated commentators, as ESPN’s Simpsons enthusiasts Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will discuss football strategy with Drew Carter calling the game action. Kimes, Orlovsky, and Carter will be animated in the Simpsons style, and they will use ESPN Edge Innovation Partner’s Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Springfield thanks to VR technology and Sony’s Beyond Sports’ Virtual Commentator Technology.
ESPN’s First Funday Football Received Numerous Sports Emmys, Record Disney+ Viewership
The second edition of Funday Football follows ESPN’s Toy Story Funday Football in October 2023, also presented by Disney, ESPN, and the NFL, and utilized NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Sony’s Beyond Sports’ Technology, and Hawk-Eye Innovation’s skeletal data. The first-of-its-kind presentation for the NFL won three Sports Emmys – Outstanding Production Design, George Wensel Technical Achievement, and Outstanding Graphic Design – and was recognized with four additional US Festival Awards. The creative endeavor was ESPN’s first fully animated NFL telecast, delivering Disney+’s biggest live event to date on Disney+ (based on peak concurrency).
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Lisa Salters on the Traditional Call of Monday Night Football
ESPN’s traditional Monday Night Football telecast will have Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Lisa Salters on the call, live from AT&T Stadium. Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli will primarily focus on the traditional presentation while also periodically checking in on The Simpsons Funday Football.
The Simpsons + Disney
The iconic Simpsons franchise joined the Disney family during the 20th Century Fox acquisition. Disney+ is the streaming home of The Simpsons, with 35 seasons and over 750 episodes.
