We continue to see more and more alternate broadcasts, and an interesting recent trend there has been with animation. And the latest example of that comes with ESPN’s announcement Monday night that for the Dec. 9 Monday Night Football broadcast of the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys (which will be available across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN+, as well as with a ManningCast alternate broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN+), they’ll provide a fully-animated Simpsons Funday Football alternate feed on ESPN+ and Disney+. Here’s a video announcing that:
ESPN announced that the Week 14 MNF game between the Cowboys and the Bengals will feature a Simpsons-themed alternate cast on Disney+ and ESPN+. pic.twitter.com/i3aBLlQAex
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 29, 2024
And here’s more information from a release:
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.
…Internationally, the special presentation will be available on linear or streaming in more than 145 markets live and/or via replay. Among those, all Latin America including Mexico and Brazil, the Caribbean, Australia & New Zealand, Netherlands, Sub-Saharan Africa and Canada (TSN). Video on Demand will also be available 12 hours after the live broadcast ends in these and other markets.
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 latest in a long line of animated sports broadcasts. Last year, ESPN+ and Disney+ ran an alternate Toy Story Sunday Funday broadcast alongside the main feed of the Atlanta Falcons-Jacksonville Jaguars game (also an ESPN+ exclusive). That won three Sports Emmys (for Outstanding Production Design, George Wensel Technical Achievement, and Outstanding Graphic Design), and was the highest-viewed Disney+ sports broadcast to date. ESPN has additionally experimented with Big City Greens alternate broadcasts for NHL games, to say nothing of alternate broadcasts with some Marvel or Star Wars elements (but those ones weren’t fully-animated).
Other companies have brought in full-animation broadcasts as well, particularly CBS parent Paramount Global with their Nickelodeon NFL broadcasts (including last year’s Super Bowl). But it’s remarkable to see this happen with ESPN, Monday Night Football, and The Simpsons. This builds on ESPN+’s Toy Story one, but that was an alternate feed for an early ESPN+ exclusive international game; an alternate feed for MNF is a bigger deal.
In terms of the actual broadcast, Drew Carter will be the play-by-play voice (reprising his role from the Toy Story broadcast), while ESPN NFL figures Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky (both described in the release as Simpsons enthusiasts) will be providing analysis. The commentators will “be animated in the style of the Simpsons and don 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.”
There’s a lot of involvement here from the Simpsons team as well. Beyond the involvement of creators, this will feature voices of the cast (including Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith) in prerecorded bits and skits. Bart Simpson will align with Joe Burrow and the Bengals, while Homer will take the side of Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys (fitting considering how he always dreamt of owning that team, and wasn’t thrilled with getting the Denver Broncos as a replacement).
Beyond that, Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will join Bart’s side, while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe will join Homer. And the Simpsons’ creators are writing animated segments that will incorporate Stephen A. Smith, Peyton and Eli Manning, and other ESPN figures, as well as pre-recorded segments with players from both teams.
But what will the actual broadcast here look like? Well, here’s a shot of that “Atoms Stadium.”
And here’s a look at animated versions of Prescott and Burrow:
It may seem unusual to have The Simpsons on an ESPN broadcast, considering that show’s long history with Fox (where the current show continues to air). But the show comes from Fox’s TV studio, now known as 20th Century Studios, which Disney acquired in the Disney-Fox deal (finalized in 2019). And The Simpsons has been a significant part of Disney’s linear (especially on FX) and streaming (especially on Disney+, but also with the latest season on Hulu) offerings since then. So this move makes a lot of sense for them.
We’ll see how the broadcast turns out. But there’s definitely potential here. And this will get a lot of attention given the prominence of both The Simpsons and Monday Night Football.
