The Simpsons Funday Football Debuts on Disney+ and ESPN+, Complementing Traditional Monday Night Football Telecast of Bengals-Cowboys on ABC and ESPN; MNF with Peyton and Eli on ESPN2
- Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters on Call for Main Monday Night Football Broadcast on ESPN and ABC
- Manning Brothers Return for Final Regular Season Edition of Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli
- The Simpsons Funday Football Marks the First Time an NFL Game is Transformed into the Iconic Simpsons Cartoon World with Bart and Homer Simpson Joining the Action on the Field
- Mina Kimes, Dan Orlovsky to Provide Analysis, Drew Carter on Play-by-Play Call on The Simpsons Funday Football
On Monday, December 9, ESPN will offer fans three distinctly different viewing options – across six platforms – for Monday Night Football’s Week 14 matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys.
Anchoring coverage of Bengals-Cowboys will be the traditional, main telecast of Monday Night Football on ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes, with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters. Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli will air on ESPN2 as ESPN’s newest Monday Night Football alternate telecast, The Simpsons Funday Football will premiere on Disney+, ESPN+ and NFL+ (on mobile). The much anticipated, additive telecast will feature Bart as a member of the Bengals and Homer with the Cowboys as well as Lisa and Marge serving as on-field sideline reporters.
All telecasts will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will stream on ESPN+ and the ESPN App.
The voices of Monday Night Football, Buck, Aikman and Salters will all be on the call, live from AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Prior to the crew’s call of the game, Monday Night Countdown will be onsite, breaking down the game and surely adding a Simpsons reference, or two.
Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli will stick to their regular format following game action for their final alternate telecast of the regular season. Peyton and Eli Manning will be joined by Bill Belichick throughout the first quarter, with the other guests to be announced. Fans can expect to hear a Simpsons joke or two. The Manning brothers will return to ESPN2 for ESPN’s Wild Card matchup on January 13, 2025.
On The Simpsons Funday Football, ESPN NFL analysts, and Simpsons enthusiasts, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will make their animated telecast debut as they provide live, game analysis, while Drew Carter is set to provide play-by-play. The trio will call the game from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. studios while simultaneously appearing as Simpsons-inspired versions of themselves within the telecast.
Internationally, The Simpsons Funday Football will be available on linear or streaming in more than 145 markets live and/or via replay. More information on The Simpsons Funday Football’s global reach can be found below.
In honor of The Simpsons Funday Football, fans can catch a 10-hour “Animation Blitz” – which includes The Simpsons – beginning at 7 a.m. on FXX.
Don’t Have a Cow, Man! More on The Simpsons Funday Football
The Simpsons Funday Football, which was announced earlier this season, will transport viewers into the iconic Simpsons universe, providing a fully immersive, real-time, animated viewing experience for fans of all ages. In collaboration between ESPN, Disney, The Simpsons, the NFL, Next Gen Stats and using Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology, Bart Simpson and the Bengals will take on Homer Simpson and the Cowboys live from Atoms Stadium in Springfield.
Fans can expect the presentation to visually and auditorily mimic the humorous, unique and recognizable feel of The Simpsons, thanks to considerable collaboration between the creators of show, the NFL and ESPN. Highlights of such elements include:
- The Gangs All Here! Bart and Homer will be joined by dozens of other friends and characters throughout the game with the authentic Simpsons voices of Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith voicing over several pre-recorded bits and skits for the telecast. In addition to plenty of football talk, fans should expect to hear a healthy amount of “D’Ohs”
- Star-Studded Cameos: What would a Cowboys game be without a Stephen A. Smith sighting? Luckily, fans will have a front row seat to a pre-recorded segment with a Simpsons-inspired Stephen A. talking about game. The Manning brothers will also make a joint cameo during the game.
- Music Mash-Up: The theme song for The Simpsons Funday Football, a blend of The Simpsons classic jingle and APM Music’s ‘Heavy Action,’ the iconic sound of Monday Night Football, will be heard during the telecast.
Additional details on The Simpsons Funday Football can be found here.
The Simpsons Funday Football presentation is the latest example of ESPN’s robust innovation strategy surrounding alternate telecasts. The Simpsons Funday Football is the second iteration of ESPN’s Funday Football series, following last season’s Toy Story Funday Football.
The Simpsons Funday Football Available Live and On Replay in the U.S. and Globally
The Simpsons Funday Football will be available live and/or via replay throughout the entirety of Latin America, including Mexico and Brazil, the Caribbean, Australia & New Zealand, the 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. Encore presentations will be available on Disney Channel, Disney XD, FX and FXX in the days following the premiere.
Donuts For All!
In celebration of the alternate telecast, The Simpsons Funday Football Donut Truck will be making its way around Los Angeles (Friday, Dec. 6) and New York City (Monday, Dec. 9), handing out free donuts. Fans visiting the donut truck can indulge in their choice of a Simpsons-style donut – either a Bart’s Bengals Creme or Homer’s Classic Cowboys – while also participating in multiple photo opportunities.
The donut truck will be decked out in The Simpsons’ beloved iconography and located outside the Santa Monica Pier Grand Entrance at approximately 10 a.m. PT and The Brig at approximately 4 p.m. PT on Friday in Los Angeles. On Monday, the truck will make multiple stops in New York City: Times Square at approximately 8:30 a.m. ET, Flatiron at approximately 10 a.m. ET and Union Square at approximately 2:15 p.m. ET.