The NFL will wrap up Week 14 with a rather underwhelming matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys on Monday night. Yet, a unique presentation from the combined forces of ESPN, Disney, and the NFL will provide viewers with a new experience based on the world of “The Simpsons.”
For the second consecutive season, the NFL will have a Funday Football telecast. What is “The Simpsons Funday Football”, and how can you watch it on Monday night?
What Is ‘The Simpsons Funday Football’?
“The Simpsons Funday Football” will be an alternate viewing presentation that will transform the live broadcast of Monday night’s matchup between the Bengals and Cowboys into “The Simpsons” universe that many have known since the famous animated television show made its half-hour prime-time show debut in 1989.
The broadcast will utilize Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology to transform the game in real time and send viewers to Atoms Stadium in Springfield. The NFL revealed more details about the technology behind the unique experience in the event’s press release:
“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, and Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking creates dynamic player and character movement including detailed limb movement and mannerisms.”
Fans of “The Simpsons” will notice that Bart Simpson will side with the Bengals, while Homer Simpson will side with the Cowboys. Bart, Homer, and several other iconic characters from the legendary show will appear throughout the unique broadcast.
How To Watch ‘The Simpsons Funday Football’
“The Simpsons Funday Football” will be available to watch on three streaming platforms. Viewers can tune in on ESPN+, Disney+, or on a mobile device utilizing NFL+.
This unique viewing presentation will be available in addition to the traditional Monday Night Football telecast, which will be available on ESPN, ESPN+, ABC, and ESPN Deportes while “Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli” will be available on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
ESPN, Disney, and the NFL will be looking to replicate the success that their first “Funday Football” broadcast had in Oct. 2023. Last season’s edition of the unique presentation featured the classic movie “Toy Story” instead of “The Simpsons” and received rave reviews.
“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,” according to the NFL’s press release.
We’ll see if this season’s broadcast will have the same success that last season’s “Toy Story” broadcast did. It’ll surely be interesting to watch the first NFL game ever simultaneously played in “The Simpsons” city of Springfield.
