The National Football League may have some extra viewers Sunday thanks to a Sunday Night Football matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets that music superstar Taylor Swift is planning to attend.
What Happened: Media giant The Walt Disney Company DIS is among the companies that could benefit from strong viewership of NFL games and benefit from an increased interest in the rumored romance between Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
On Sunday, Disney will be hoping that it gets a younger audience to tune in to its early morning coverage of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons. The two teams are playing at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London.
The game will air on ESPN+ and NFL+, with a traditional viewing option and a unique viewing mode called “Toy Story Funday Football.” The “Toy Story Funday Football” presentation will also air on Disney+.
A first-of-its-kind, real-time viewing option for NFL fans, the game will be broadcast live with the game and players appearing in the iconic setting of Andy’s room from the "Toy Story" films.
The game starts at 9:30 a.m. ET and will target a family audience. The special broadcast will include lessons on football and feature some iconic Toy Story characters, including Duke Caboom ,who will perform a motorcycle jump during a special halftime show.
The special broadcast will play in over 95 markets across five continents and on replay.
Special-player-tracking technology will be used to help animate the game in real-time.
Related Link: Four NFL Teams Have Never Been To A Super Bowl, Here Are The Betting Payouts If History Is Made In 2023 Season
Why It’s Important: This alternate broadcast from Disney follows the company’s path of providing extra ways to appeal to new audiences and bring in advertisers.
Disney said that a lot of professional leagues are interested in doing presentations similar to the "Toy Story"-themed broadcast, which could make Sunday’s presentation important for the future. With "Toy Story," the company has a built-in audience that spans across several generations.
Sunday’s broadcast could also prove as a test for another media company. Paramount Global has the media rights to Super Bowl LVIII and, along with airing the game on CBS and its Paramount+ streaming platform, will offer an alternate broadcast on its Nickelodeon channel.
Nickelodeon has aired NFL games before with CGI slime incorporated as part of its presentation.
For Disney, the company is betting aggressively on its NFL rights to help fill content gaps left by the Hollywood strike. The company recently announced that its “Monday Night Football,” which airs on ESPN and ESPN2, will also air on ABC for 10 more games than expected this season, as reported by Variety.
After previously airing on ABC, “Monday Night Football” moved to ESPN in 2006 and has been a ratings giant for the company and its cable channel.
With the airing of games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, Disney could have an opportunity to gain additional viewers and boost its advertising rates for the rest of the NFL season.
The Jaguars enter Sunday’s matchup with a 1-2 record and the Falcons are 2-1. The Jaguars are favored by three points according to sportsbook DraftKings Inc, with the over/under set at 43 points.
Read Next: If You Invested $1,000 In Disney Stock When They Acquired Pixar, Here's How Much You'd Have Now
Photo: Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
