The quick summary:
The Super Bowl may be months away, but Disney already has its head in the game.
Heading into its upfront presentation from the Javits Center in New York, Disney has Super Bowl LXI, the College Football Championship, the Grammys, and the Oscars within six weeks of each other in 2027. To showcase the advertising gravity of those live events, Disney tailored its upfront pitch around those tentpoles, while also promoting its other brands, including ESPN, Hulu, Disney+, ABC, and FX.
The company rolled out the red carpet for its stars, with Anne Hathaway introducing Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro. Joe Buck, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell explained Disney and the NFL’s expanded relationship. Jason Kelce brought out Super Bowl MVPs such as Jerry Rice and Kurt Warner. And Robert Irwin and the Dancing with the Stars pros provided an upfront halftime performance.
Plus, Jimmy Kimmel, who has yet to be canceled by the FCC, took the stage to close things out.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you guys again either,” he joked, adding, “I’ve been through so much bullsh*t this year. It actually made me appreciate this bullsh*t.”
Among the announcements, Disney gave more insight into its live event programming, from Conan O’Brien returning to the Oscars to a Super Bowl fan experience and a collaboration with the Savannah Bananas.
The biggest announcements:
Disney already announced that the Super Bowl would be a year-long celebration, and now it’s giving more insight into what to expect.
ESPN and Disney will host a week-long content hub and fan experience on Santa Monica Beach ahead of the L.A.-area Super Bowl on Feb. 14, 2027. This includes a state-of-the-art ESPN Beach to anchor studio coverage, a free fan activation, and more experiences.
Other live event updates include Conan O’Brien coming back to host the 99th Oscars for the Mouse House, Disney extending its relationship with the CMAs through 2032, and the Grammys airing on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu on Feb. 7.
Disney’s also becoming the exclusive home of the Banana Bowl this fall thanks to a new partnership with the Savannah Bananas, who opened the upfront with a performance of The Greatest Show that would do Hugh Jackman proud. The Banana Bowl will stream live on Disney+ and feature the top teams from the Banana Ball league facing off for the season championship.
And in an act of corporate synergy, internet personality and one of the bananas from the Savannah Bananas, Jackson Olson, will compete in Dancing with the Stars Season 35, joining The Traitors’ Maura Higgins and Summer House’s Ciara Miller.
Regarding scripted fare, Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story 13 is getting an additional star with Paul Anthony Kelly. Straight off of Murphy’s limited series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, Kelly joined cast members Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, Billie Lourd, and Emma Roberts on stage.
Elsewhere, Rosario Dawson announced that Ahsoka Season 2 is coming to Disney+ in 2027. William H. Macy, Christopher Meloni, and Mandy Moore introduced a Cleveland Browns-focused Hulu series, The Land. And Robert Downey Jr., Tom Hiddleston, and Paul Bettany had a mini Marvel reunion to talk up Vision Quest and Hiddleston’s Pompeii series for National Geographic.
Why it matters:
In a fragmented TV landscape, the Super Bowl is the ultimate prize, still regularly commanding more than 120 million viewers. So the Big Game has already started for Disney.
Speaking with ADWEEK ahead of the presentation, Rita Ferro, Disney’s global ads president, said the company is already receiving an “unbelievable” amount of asks to get into the Super Bowl and that the company will have a wide variety of categories in its crop of advertisers for the game.
Still, turning one game into a year-long initiative is a big ask, even for Disney, which Kimmel seemed to acknowledge, joking that Disney is “going to spend a whole year” promoting the most popular game in the world.
However, the announcements from the upfront could help along the way. If Disney can successfully weave messaging throughout the year in its live events, and sustain the advertiser enthusiasm through its new partnerships, the marketing opportunities could be Bananas.