Super Bowl LXI Will Get an Animated Star Wars Version With C-3PO

Football fans will be able to watch Super Bowl LXI in an animated version set in the Star Wars galaxy, according to an announcement from ESPN, Lucasfilm, Disney and the NFL. The alternate telecast, called Star Wars Funday Football, will stream live on Disney+ and the ESPN App and air on Disney Channel and Disney XD on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2027.

It will run alongside the traditional broadcast rather than replace it. ESPN says the animated game is aimed at fans of all ages and is the first animated alternate presentation of a Super Bowl.

What it means for viewers choosing how to watch

The standard game will still be available on ESPN and ABC, with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., ESPN said. All Disney+ subscribers in the U.S. can stream that traditional presentation. A Spanish-language telecast will be on Disney+ and ESPN Deportes, and Univision will carry its own Spanish-language presentation.

The Star Wars version is one of several options. ESPN lists these others:

• A Super Bowl edition of the show with Peyton and Eli Manning on ESPN2.
• A Field Pass telecast with The Pat McAfee Show on ESPNU.
• A Playbook telecast built around Next Gen Stats on NFL Network.

Outside the U.S., ESPN said the animated game will be live in markets including Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand, Canada (on TSN+), the Netherlands, sub-Saharan Africa, Japan, Sweden, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. It will then be available on demand on Disney+ shortly after the game in additional regions, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany and South Korea. ESPN puts total availability at more than 155 markets.

How the animated game works

The telecast will recreate every play of the real game as it happens. Players on the field become animated avatars, Star Wars characters will step in during key moments, and hidden nods to the franchise will appear throughout, according to ESPN and Variety.

ESPN said it will use data visualization technology from Sony’s Beyond Sports, which has powered the Funday Football series since it began. The system turns live play into animation by combining player tracking data from the NFL’s Next Gen Stats with optical tracking from Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations.

Anthony Daniels, who appeared in the original 1977 Star Wars, will return to voice C-3PO. Visual settings, commentators and other characters have not yet been announced. ESPN said more details will come as the game approaches. Collider noted that key art released with the announcement suggests a desert-planet setting, though that is its reading of the artwork rather than a confirmed detail.

Where it fits in the Funday Football series

ESPN says this is the fourth NFL animated alternate telecast from ESPN, Disney and the NFL. The earlier editions were:

• Toy Story Funday Football in October 2023 (Falcons-Jaguars), which earned three Sports Emmy Awards.
• The Simpsons Funday Football in December 2024 (Bengals-Cowboys).
• Monsters Funday Football in December 2025 (Eagles-Chargers).

Those were regular-season games. ESPN describes Super Bowl LXI as its first-ever Super Bowl production, while Variety says it is the first the company has had in about two decades. Variety also noted that Nickelodeon aired a kids’ version of the Super Bowl in 2024.

What happens next

The game coincides with Lucasfilm’s celebration of 50 years of Star Wars. Five days after the Super Bowl, on Friday, Feb. 19, a newly restored version of the original 1977 film returns to theaters.

Before then, ESPN is previewing the theme. Starting Tuesday, Oct. 20, SC+, ESPN’s daily SportsCenter show on Disney+, will feature “Hyperspace Highlights,” which show Monday Night Football plays with a Star Wars look. From Oct. 26, SC+ will show an animated Darth Vader interviewing an NFL player from that night’s Monday Night Football game on Mondays. Collider reported that the first of those matchups is Cowboys-Eagles.

Sources: ESPN Press Room, Variety, Collider