Disney Reveals Super Bowl Plans, Including a Yearlong Big Game Celebration

Disney is revealing its playbook for Super Bowl 61.

Today, Disney and ESPN announced “The Year of the Super Bowl,” a yearlong initiative leading up to ABC and ESPN’s presentation of Super Bowl LXI, which is taking place on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, at SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams.

The initiative is a collaboration among ESPN, Disney, and the NFL, featuring new content, fan experiences, and advertising opportunities.

“This fan-focused initiative unites our company’s beloved brands with industry-leading storytelling and technology to showcase football’s greatest stories, heroes, and moments like never before,” Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN chairman, said in a statement. “Across our platforms, screens, and parks, we’ll build momentum throughout the year toward Super Bowl LXI—a monumental event for sports fans everywhere and for ESPN.”

As part of its initial programming, ESPN will highlight Super Bowl touchdown scorers in a weekly I Scored a Touchdown series, showcasing 61 athletes ahead of Super Bowl 61. In addition, Jeremy Schaap will host a new weekly podcast called The Biggest Game.

Throughout the year, Disney Advertising is introducing “a suite of premium opportunities for brand partners across ESPN, ABC, and Disney’s broader portfolio,” according to the company. Advertisers will have access to integrations, custom content, and cross-platform opportunities tied to the Super Bowl and memorable NFL moments. The company noted it’s looking to connect brands with fans across the Disney ecosystem.

Speaking with ADWEEK last year ahead of Disney’s upfront week event, Rita Ferro, the company’s ads president, noted that Disney was already having conversations with partners about the Super Bowl rollout and that the company had “over 67 multiyear deals that are mostly anchored in football.”

“There are a lot of conversations around how the Walt Disney Company takes over and shows up for the Super Bowl in a way that will be representative of not only everything ESPN does and ABC does, and all of our news and information shows do, but how does the Walt Disney Company show up through our station, KABC, in L.A., too? So we’re going to have a surround coverage that I think the Super Bowl has never experienced,” Ferro said.