Star Wars Funday Football will turn Super Bowl LXI into live animation
The February 14, 2027 broadcast will recreate every play with animated players and Star Wars characters, with Anthony Daniels returning as C-3PO.
The short answer: The February 14, 2027 broadcast will recreate every play with animated players and Star Wars characters, with Anthony Daniels returning as C-3PO.
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The players competing in Super Bowl LXI will have animated counterparts in the Star Wars galaxy. Star Wars Funday Football will recreate every play as it happens, with franchise characters stepping into the action at key moments. The moves come from the real championship game; the players appear as animated avatars.
ESPN, Lucasfilm, Disney and the NFL will bring the alternate broadcast to viewers on Sunday, February 14, 2027. C-3PO is among the characters joining the game, with original Star Wars cast member Anthony Daniels returning to provide his voice.
When and where to watch
- Star Wars animated broadcast: streaming live on Disney+ and the ESPN App, and airing on Disney Channel and Disney XD on February 14, 2027.
- Traditional broadcast: ESPN, ABC and Disney+, with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge covering the game from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
All Disney+ subscribers in the United States will be able to stream the traditional ESPN and ABC presentation. That access guarantee applies specifically to the traditional broadcast. The announcement does not specify U.S. subscription terms for the animated version.
How the real game becomes animation
Sony’s Beyond Sports technology will combine player-tracking data from the NFL’s Next Gen Stats with optical tracking from Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations. Those measurements drive the animated recreation of the live action, turning the movements on the field into those of the players’ avatars.
Rather than watching a stadium camera feed with Star Wars graphics added, viewers will follow the game through animated players. Star Wars characters will substitute during selected moments, with Easter eggs appearing throughout. ESPN plans to announce the visual settings, commentators and additional characters as the Super Bowl approaches.
From Andy’s room to the Super Bowl
The NFL’s Funday Football series began with Toy Story Funday Football in October 2023. As the Atlanta Falcons played the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London, their actions were recreated in Andy’s room, with an animated version of each player. That production earned three Sports Emmy Awards.
The Simpsons Funday Football moved the action to Springfield’s Atoms Stadium for Bengals–Cowboys in December 2024. Bart sided with the Bengals and Homer with the Cowboys, and both could replace players for selected plays. Their involvement offers a useful precedent for Star Wars: familiar characters can participate in the animated action rather than simply decorate the broadcast.
Monsters Funday Football followed in December 2025, recreating Eagles–Chargers inside the world of Monsters, Inc. Its Cheer Floor reimagined the film’s Scare Floor as a football venue. Star Wars will be the fourth animated NFL alternate broadcast from ESPN, Disney and the NFL—and the first animated alternate presentation of a Super Bowl.
A familiar voice for the anniversary year
Daniels connects the new broadcast to Star Wars’ beginnings. He joined the project in 1975, encountering C-3PO through the script and Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art. His work as the character has also extended into animation, including Droids, The Clone Wars and Rebels. In a 2019 StarWars.com interview about his memoir, he described how audiences responded when he slipped into Threepio’s voice while telling stories.
People do really get emotional remembering those early days of seeing it with their family. It’s a whole family thing, Star Wars. Anthony Daniels, speaking to StarWars.com in a 2019 interview about his memoir
His return brings a voice from the original 1977 cast to the NFL championship during Star Wars’ 50th-anniversary year—a connection to the franchise’s beginnings as Funday Football moves beyond regular-season games to the Super Bowl.