ESPN announced its Super Bowl LXI broadcast will also stream on Disney+, giving the streaming service its first live carriage of an NFL game. The arrangement, confirmed Wednesday, means Disney+ subscribers can watch both the English-language ESPN/ABC broadcast and the Spanish-language ESPN Deportes telecast without switching to a traditional cable or satellite feed.
The move marks a significant expansion of Disney+’s role in live sports as ESPN prepares to produce and carry the Super Bowl for the first time in company history. It also lands at a moment when Disney has already sold out all advertising inventory for the game, the Walt Disney Company announced in August.
The Details Of The Streaming Deal
Disney+ will stream Super Bowl LXI in more than 55 international markets, according to ESPN and Yahoo Sports, covering regions including Latin America, Brazil, the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia and New Zealand. The ESPN broadcast itself will reach even further on linear platforms, airing in more than 130 countries and territories.
In the United States, Disney+ carriage includes the ESPN Deportes Spanish-language telecast, continuing a tradition that dates back more than a decade. The Super Bowl has been televised in Spanish in the U.S. since 2014.
Super Bowl LXI will not be Disney+’s only live NFL appearance this season. The service is set to stream two Monday Night Football games, starting with Dallas at Philadelphia on Oct. 26, with a second contest still to be announced.
What It Means For Fans
For viewers outside the U.S. in one of the 55 markets Disney+ covers, the Super Bowl becomes available through a subscription service rather than requiring a local broadcast partner or cable package. Domestic fans who want the Spanish-language call gain a streaming option alongside the traditional ESPN Deportes broadcast.
The broadcast booth is set, with Joe Buck calling play-by-play and Troy Aikman providing color commentary, according to Yahoo Sports. It will be the first time the pair has called a Super Bowl since Patrick Mahomes won his first title with the Kansas City Chiefs in early 2020. Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge are slated to handle sideline reporting.
Context: ESPN’s Return To The Super Bowl Rotation
Super Bowl LXI represents a milestone for ESPN, which will produce and carry the game for the first time. The broadcast will also air on ABC for the first time since 2006, putting ESPN and ABC back in the Super Bowl rotation after a two-decade absence, according to Yahoo Sports.
That return comes as Disney has already locked down every advertising slot for the broadcast, a sign of the commercial demand surrounding ESPN’s first Super Bowl production, according to ESPN.
What’s Next
Disney+ subscribers get their first live NFL test run when Dallas visits Philadelphia on Oct. 26 in the first of the service’s two streamed Monday Night Football games. The second Disney+ game has not yet been announced. Super Bowl LXI itself follows later in the season, with the ESPN/ABC and ESPN Deportes broadcasts both set to stream on Disney+ alongside their traditional linear carriage, according to FOX Sports.
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