NFL’s Next Gen Stats Player Tracking Data Combined with Sony’s Beyond Sports and Hawk-Eye Innovation Enables Virtual Re-Creation of the Game
Monday Night Football meets The Simpsons Funday Football tonight, December 9, in a fully immersive fan viewing experience. State-of-the-art, real-time visualization technology by Beyond Sports technology, combined with Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking, will be used by ESPN, Disney, The Simpsons, and the National Football League to transform in real-time, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys facing off inside Springfield’s Atoms Stadium. The great Homer Simpson will perform as a Cowboys player, and his son, the honorable Bart Simpson, will play in the iconic NFL game as a Bengals player during a real-time alternate viewing broadcast streaming across Disney+ and ESPN+ as well as on mobile via NFL+. ESPN will offer three unique different viewing options across six platforms for the Week 14 matchup. The Simpsons cartoon world marks the third such alt broadcast that include last season’s Toy Story Funday Football covered by the Sports Techie community blog. 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. A fourth Christmas Day 2024 NBA and Disney ‘Dunk the Halls’ alt-cast is coming next. Cross-generational broadcasts using Disney IP content like Frozen or Star Wars to reach new generation of fans while entertaining all viewers, both young and old, are a terrific way to get children, both boys and girls, as well as adults, to learn about a new sport while it’s played by trusted animated characters in their familiar iconic settings. 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 spanning 35 seasons. Ay, Caramba!
“We do a number of alt-casts at ESPN, and this is the best example of us expanding our audience by reaching beyond the typical sports fan,” said Phil Orlins, Vice President, Production, ESPN. “It offers us an opportunity — to appeal to children as co-viewers with their parents, and now teens, in the case of The Simpsons. It’s a best-case scenario to reach a different audience for ESPN.”
Game Time Specs
Each will select key moments to play offense and/or defense, replacing a player and joining their fellow teammates on the field. Meanwhile, Marge Simpson and Lisa Simpson will interview players during the game, while Maggie Simpson will fly the SkyCam. Additional characters, references, and more will bring a real Sunday-night-with-the-Simpsons feel to Monday Night Football. “Homer and Bart will make terrible or great plays,” Orlins says, “depending on the how the game unfolds.”
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 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.
Sports Tech Specs
Every play of Bengals-Cowboys game features each player appearing 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 and Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking creates dynamic player and character movement including detailed limb movement and mannerisms.
True To Form Simpson Characters and Humor
At Springfield’s Atoms Stadium, The Simpsons Funday Football will be a true family affair as Bart sides with Joe Burrow and the Bengals while Homer aligns with Dak Prescott and the Cowboys, although he is injured and out for the season. During most of the game, look for Bart and Homer to enable their new Bengals and Cowboys teammates to manage the action, but the loving 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 10 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.
- A Myriad of Simpsons Characters: The telecast will feature dozens the show’s iconic characters, with each character playing into their well-known persona.
- Authentic Simpsons Voices: Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith will voice several of their characters in prerecorded bits and skits.
- Picking Sides: 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).
- Custom Simpsons Scenes and Writing: 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 Simpsons Music: The timeless theme song and more jingles from the show will be employed.
- The Simpsons and ESPN: Animated segments incorporating Stephen A. Smith, Peyton and Eli Manning and more will appear in the telecast, with their segments written by the Simpsons creators.
- Bengals and Cowboys Players: Players from both teams will have pre-recorded segments which include interactions with Simpsons characters.
ESPN’s Broadcast Team Homers
The animated commentators are ESPN’s Simpsons enthusiasts Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky. Expect entertaining and informative 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.
What’s Next
Last year’s Toy Story Funday Football was ESPN’s first fully animated NFL telecast together with Pixar Animation Studios using Sony’s Beyond Sports’ Technology and Hawk-Eye Innovation’s skeletal data to deliver the biggest live event to-date on Disney+ (based on peak concurrency). Disney Television Animation worked on NHL Big City Greens Classic in much the same way to ensure authenticity.
On Christmas Day, Disney, ESPN, and the NBA will team up to present Dunk the Halls — the first real-time animated NBA game using Sony’s Beyond Sports technology, and the first NBA game to stream on Disney+. The alt-cast will be presented on ESPN2, Disney+, and ESPN+, with the New York Knicks hosting the San Antonio Spurs at noon ET/9 a.m. PT. All five NBA Christmas games will also be available on ABC, ESPN, Disney+, and ESPN+.
Dunk the Halls will begin with Mickey asking Santa Claus to bring the NBA players to Main Street, USA, to play the first NBA game at Magic Kingdom Park on Christmas Day. His wish is granted, and he joins Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip and Dale in cheering on the teams at Walt Disney World Resort during the virtual, live re-creation of the game.
“The history of the Disney characters is second to none,” Orlin says. “We’re always looking to find the right collaboration with the most exceptional IP, and this was so perfect. Main Street, USA, and the Disney characters felt like they’d fit with the NBA on Christmas Day.”
Dunk the Halls will feature other famous Magic Kingdom Park landmarks, such as Cinderella Castle. And at halftime, characters will compete in a slam dunk contest. Adding to the magic, Santa’s Elves will operate the cameras, while Santa himself will operate ESPN’s SkyCam during the game. Disney characters will deliver pregame and halftime speeches to the players and also decorate a large Christmas tree during the game.
“Part of what makes this exciting and interesting to people is that it involves some sort of IP that they already have an interest in, and therefore it makes them curious to experience it and see what it will be like,” Orlins says. “Because of Disney, we at ESPN are incredibly fortunate to create these opportunities for them.”
The results speak for themselves, as past animated alt-casts have not only entertained audiences but also increased overall interest in regular broadcasts of ESPN sporting games.
Learn more about ESPN’s unmatched alternate telecast history available here.
Sports Techie, I currently do not have a Disney+ subscription but was tempted by the recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday, $2.99 a month, Hulu and Disney offer. I can and will watch the Simpsons Funday Football alt-cast on ESPN+ tonight.
Who better to provide animated alt broadcasts with intellectual property that spans generations, including Gen-C.
“We have the best set of assets to do this better than anybody else,” Orlins says. “The strength of the Disney IP is essential; the rights that ESPN holds with the major sports leagues is essential; and the willingness of ESPN to take on the production of the alt-casts is essential. The ability to distribute these on Disney-owned platforms is extraordinary. To have access to Disney+ is extremely important for their success — and for ESPN’s growth.”
Disney, ESPN and the NFL, together with Beyond Sports and Hawk-Eye Innovations, that’s who.
See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!
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