The Simpsons Funday Football to Air on December 9

ESPN, Disney, The Simpsons, and the NFL 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.

Both the traditional telecast and Peyton and Eli will also be on ESPN+, making each distinct presentation available in the ESPN App. All telecasts will begin at 8 p.m. ET.

Internationally, the special presentation will be available on linear or streaming in more than 145 markets live and/or via replay. Among those, all of 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 second consecutive year ESPN, Disney, and the NFL have presented a Funday Football telecast.

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. Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking creates dynamic player and character movement, including detailed limb movement and mannerisms.

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. For most of the game, Bart and Homer will let their new Bengals and Cowboys teammates manage the action, 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 ten 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.

The telecast will feature dozens of the show’s iconic characters, with each character playing into their well-known persona. Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Yeardley Smith will voice several of their characters in prerecorded bits and skits.

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).

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 timeless theme song and more jingles from the show will also be employed.

Animated segments incorporating Stephen A. Smith, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and more will appear in the telecast, with their segments written by the Simpsons creators. Players from both teams will have pre-recorded segments that will include interactions with Simpsons characters.

The Simpsons Funday Football will have its own animated commentators, as ESPN’s Simpsons enthusiasts Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will provide football strategy discussion with Drew Carter calling the game action. Kimes, Orlovsky, and Carter 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.

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.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football traditional 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.