Disney has taken a new, significant step on its year-long blitz towards Super Bowl LXI, announcing Wednesday that ESPN’s presentation of the 2027 NFL championship game will be live streamed on Disney+ in the U.S. and international markets.
Next year marks ESPN’s first-ever Super Bowl presentation, with the matchup broadcast already set to air on ESPN and ABC, as well as a Spanish-language telecast on ESPN Deportes, and available on the ESPN DTC streamer.
Disney+ subscribers won’t be getting an alternate telecast, but the traditional Super Bowl presentation from ESPN and airing on ABC with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge.
Disney+ will also stream ESPN’s Super Bowl in more than 55 international markets, including Spanish-language speaking Latin America, Brazil, the Caribbean, South Africa, and Australia/New Zealand. At the same time, ESPN’s linear platforms are poised to carry the game in more than 130 countries and territories.
But the NFL’s biggest game isn’t the only pro football coming to Disney+ subscribers.
Disney is also making two Monday Night Football regular season games available on its namesake streamer in the lead-up to Super Bowl, with both English and Spanish-language broadcast options available. The games include the Dallas Cowboys at the Philadelphia Eagles on October 26, with the second yet to be announced. Both games will continue to air as scheduled on ESPN/ABC.
The flagship ESPN direct-to-consumer app will continue to offer all Monday Night Football games and Super Bowl programming in the U.S.
The move to stream the Super Bowl on Disney+ is a significant one and expands availability of the game to a new platform beyond the sports-focused ESPN DTC app and traditional linear TV channels.
It also marks another expansion to Disney+’s roster of domestic and global live sports.
Attracting audiences, advertisers
Disney of course has reason to make the most out of its year hosting the Super Bowl, where the high-profile sporting event continues to attract audiences and major advertiser demand.
NBCUniversal had rights to the 2026 Super Bowl LX, which it also made available on Peacock. With nearly 125 million viewers, Nielsen ranked the 2026 game as the second most-watched Super Bowl in history, while it marked the most-watched show in NBCU’s history. This past February NBCU said Super Bowl Sunday marked “Peacock’s best day ever” both in terms of reach and hours streamed.
As for advertising against the 2027 game, on its fiscal Q3 earnings call in August Disney disclosed that ABC and ESPN sold out all commercial inventory for the telecast –what the company said marks the earliest sellout by a network in Super Bowl history. Those securing units for the game include 58 brands across 34 categories, including nine first-time Super Bowl advertisers.
In-game national advertisers will see their spots extend across all digital endpoints, which with today’s news now also includes all Disney+ subscribers that tune in via the streamer. And having the game available on streaming properties like Fubo, ESPN Unlimited, Hulu + Live TV and now Disney+ may mean additional chances for monetization and for advertisers to secure screen time, as there’s potential for additional in-game advertising opportunities that are exclusive to the streaming platforms.
And Disney appears eager to utilize its array of assets to make sure the upcoming year’s Super Bowl is one to tune-in for.
Sports and fandoms were a key theme at Disney’s Upfront presentation earlier this year and the House of Mouse is working to tap both into fandoms and its existing IP, franchise characters and broader ecosystem to drive excitement and engagement ahead of its major NFL championship sporting event.
For example, ESPN is turning Santa Monica Beach into ESPN Beach a week ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, serving as a week-long broadcast hub for ESPN and Disney starting February 8. That’s alongside a free fan experience activation on the Santa Monica Pier, which will feature interactive games, immersive experiences and family-friendly entertainment tied to the company’s ESPN, Disney+ and ABC properties while also offering themed merchandise and food.
It can also be seen with ESPN and Disney’s “We’re Going” marketing campaign promoting the Super Bowl presentation, with a debut spot featuring more than 60 characters from across Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar franchises.
Disney’s Super Bowl marketing campaign gives ode to but revamps the “I’m going to Disney World” tradition of kids and families attending the company’s theme parks, a segment where its recently appointed CEO Josh D’Amaro started his career and rose in the ranks.