Star Wars Dominates Super Bowl LXI with Animated Special and 50th Anniversary Takeover

The year 2027 will mark a colossal milestone for the Star Wars franchise, celebrating 50 years since the release of George Lucas' legendary film, Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, on May 25, 1977. Disney has unveiled extensive plans to ensure this landmark anniversary and its iconic characters are celebrated across the galaxy, including a new restoration of the original film returning to theaters, a new adventure titled Star Wars: Starfighter starring Ryan Gosling, the first-ever audiobook release of the original trilogy's novelizations, and a monumental crossover with Marvel Comics set to kick off in January.

Among the most unexpected and highly anticipated celebrations is an unprecedented crossover with the National Football League for Super Bowl LXI. Building on the success of their "Funday Football" telecasts since 2023, where Disney and ESPN produce real-time animated alternatives to regular football broadcasts featuring characters from popular IPs, Lucasfilm will join the team to bring Star Wars to the biggest game of the year. Previous editions have featured characters from Toy Story (in Andy's Bedroom), The Simpsons, and Monsters, Inc..

On Sunday, February 14, 2027, Super Bowl LXI will be accompanied by a "Star Wars Funday Football" presentation. This special broadcast will air side-by-side with the main game across Disney+, the ESPN app, Disney Channel, and Disney XD, and will be available in over 155 markets worldwide. The animated telecast will meticulously recreate every play of the actual Super Bowl LXI in real-time, transforming live players into animated avatars. Famous Star Wars characters will make appearances during key moments, and surprise nods to the films will be integrated throughout the match.

Adding to the excitement, actor Anthony Daniels will reprise his longtime role as the voice of C-3PO, guiding football fans through this unique telecast. New key art released for the announcement suggests this intergalactic Super Bowl may unfold under the iconic twin suns of Tatooine, with Stormtroopers and droids in attendance for the first-ever NFL game off-planet. This innovative transformation of live gameplay into animation is powered by Sony’s Beyond Sports, which utilizes NFL’s Next Gen Stats and Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations optical tracking technology. More details regarding visual settings, commentators, and specific Star Wars characters involved are expected to be announced closer to the event.

The Star Wars animated Super Bowl broadcast is just one part of ESPN's broader festivities. Starting October 20, ESPN's daily Disney+ SportsCenter show, SC+, will introduce "Hyperspace Highlights," giving standout plays of the week the Star Wars visual treatment. The following week, on Monday, October 26, an animated Darth Vader will debut on SC+ to interview a player from that Monday Night Football matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, with new Sith Lord interviews airing weekly.

Disney's coverage of Super Bowl LXI will extend beyond the Star Wars Funday Football, marking the company's first gridiron classic under its purview in about two decades. Multiple alternate telecasts are slated across Disney media properties. These include "Field Pass," a commentary-driven option anchored by Pat McAfee airing alongside the traditional broadcast on ABC and ESPN; a Super Bowl version of the popular "ManningCast" featuring Peyton and Eli Manning on ESPN2; and "Playbook," a statistics-focused telecast led by a yet-to-be-announced team on NFL Network. A Spanish-language telecast will also be available on ESPN Deportes. This expansive "mega cast" strategy has been in consideration since Disney's 2021 rights deal with the NFL, which solidified Monday Night Football's presence on ESPN through 2033 and saw the NFL acquire a 10% stake in ESPN, bringing NFL Network and NFL RedZone under the ESPN umbrella.

Disney continues its tradition of engaging younger audiences with major sports events, echoing previous efforts by other media conglomerates like Paramount, which aired a kids' version of the Super Bowl on Nickelodeon in 2024. Disney itself has previously featured animated figures from IPs such as Toy Story, Big City Green, and Marvel superheroes to create bespoke NFL, NHL, and NBA games. Five days after the array of Super Bowl telecasts, on Friday, February 19, Lucasfilm will further its 50th-anniversary celebrations by re-releasing a restored version of the original 1977 Star Wars movie in theaters.