Sulley, meet Saquon.
The Walt Disney Co. will once again present a live animated alternative broadcast of an upcoming NFL game, this time featuring characters and a stadium set in the world of Pixar‘s Monsters Inc. ESPN announced the game during halftime of Monday Night Football.
The special edition of Monday Night Football, called Monsters Funday Football, will be televised Dec. 8, when the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Los Angeles Chargers. It’s the third straight iteration of the animated altcast for Disney, following a Toy Story-themed effort in 2023, and Simpsons-themed game last year.
The new Monsters Inc. altcast comes as Disney inked a multi-year deal with Sony’s Beyond Sports to develop more animated altcasts for NFL, NHL, NBA, and WNBA games across The Walt Disney Company and ESPN platforms through 2027.
The game will taker place inside the Monsters Inc. building, and will feature appearances by Mike Wazowski and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan, joining Jalen Hurts [and Saquon Barkley] and the Eagles and Justin Herbert and the Chargers, respectively. Billy Crystal and John Goodman will reprise their roles in prerecorded voiceover work for the game, with Drew Carter and Dan Orlovsky set to call the game joined by Katie Feeney as social media correspondent.
Notably, this year’s game won’t just stream on ESPN+ and Disney+, but will also be available on linear TV via ESPN2, Disney Channel and Disney XD.
“Each iteration of Funday Football has pushed the boundary of what’s possible in sports technology. By blending real-time NFL data and tracking with cutting-edge animation, we’re transforming the way fans experience an NFL game,” said Michael “Spike” Szykowny, ESPN VP of graphics innovation. “Our continued innovation with partners like the NFL, Beyond Sports and Disney+ showcases how technology can turn a live game into a fully immersive world, giving fans an additional way to consume sports.”
