Monsters Funday Football headlines Massive Week 14 NFL Action on ESPN – ESPN, Disney, Pixar and the National Football League will present Monsters Funday Football on Tuesday December 9, a real-time, animated NFL game, featuring the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Chargers, inside the iconic Monsters, Inc. building.
Powered by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats and Sony’s Beyond Sports visualization technology and Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations, this season’s immersive Funday Football experience will transport fans to Monstropolis for an NFL blockbuster.
Monsters Funday Football marks the third consecutive season ESPN, Disney+ and the NFL have presented a Funday Football telecast with the alternate presentation, for the first time, only available on Disney+ on Tuesday December 9 at 12.15pm AEDT.
The Monsters Funday Football presentation will also be available as video-on-demand, shortly after the conclusion of the live game.
The traditional ESPN broadcast led by Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge will air at the same time on ESPN’s linear channel.
Every Eagles and Chargers player will appear as a motion-enabled, animated version of themselves brought to life through NFL Next Gen Stats, Sony’s Beyond Sports, and Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations optical tracking, which have been utilized throughout each iteration of Funday Football. Using the player tracking data, Beyond Sports’ virtual recreation engine animates gameplay in real time within Monstropolis that mirrors the live action from SoFi Stadium.
Monsters Funday Football follows the success of The Simpsons Funday Football (December 2024) and Toy Story Funday Football (October 2023).
Adored monsters Mike Wazowski and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan will make their football debut, joining Jalen Hurts and the Eagles and Justin Herbert and the Chargers, respectively.
The action will unfold on the Cheer Floor – a reimagined version of the film’s famed Scare Floor – and will be adorned with a full-length football field filled with thousands of cheering monsters. Continuing a hallmark of every Funday Football presentation, this edition’s setting builds on previous imaginative worlds – following Andy’s bedroom in Toy Story Funday Football and Atom’s Stadium in Springfield from The Simpsons Funday Football.
While Mike and Sulley will mostly leave the game execution to the professionals, they will sub in for key offensive and defensive moments, similarly to how Bart and Homer only joined the action for significant plays in their game – which included Homer throwing a touchdown pass for the Cowboys. During the game Mike & the Eagles and Sulley and the Chargers will compete for Cheer Canisters – a rebrand of the classic Scream Canisters – storing monster cheers instead of screams. The night will end with not only a game winner but also a Cheer Champion.
Additional characters, film references and aesthetics will bring a regular day at Monsters, Inc. into an exciting Monday Night Football atmosphere:
- Fan-Favorite Monsters, Inc. Characters: Accompanying Mike and Sulley will be Roz, the slug-like monster, who will serve as the game’s sideline reporter because she “is watching, always watching!” The Child Detection Agency (CDA) will also be in attendance to monitor the crowd and the game – helping to clean-up the penalty and challenge flags that are thrown. Many additional fan-favourite characters will also make appearances.
- Familiar Sights from Monstropolis: In addition to the converted Scare Floor and Scream Canisters, the Scarer’s Leaderboard will become the Cheer Competition Leaderboard, while floating Monsters, Inc. bedroom doors hover above the field, showing fans viewing the game from their bedrooms, all over the world.
- Famous Voices of Monsters, Inc.: Renowned Hollywood actors, Billy Crystal (Mike), John Goodman (Sulley) and Bob Peterson (Roz) return to voice their original characters through prerecorded lines.
- Halftime Show Fit for Monsters: While Mike and Sulley duke it out for cheers throughout the entire game, the competition will ramp up during halftime with Mike & Sulley’s Cheer Canister Competition.
- Boomer Takes Monsters, Inc.: ESPN legend Chris Berman makes his Funday Football debut with a special animated segment.
- NFL Star Cameos: Eagles and Chargers players appear in fun, prerecorded interactions with the Monsters, Inc.
ESPN play-by-play commentator Drew Carter, who has called every edition of Funday Football and six total animated alternate telecasts across ESPN properties, and NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky, who will be calling his second Funday Football, will be in the broadcast booth as animated versions of themselves within the Monsters, Inc. world.
Using virtual reality technology and Sony’s Beyond Sports Virtual Commentator Technology, the duo will experience the action firsthand through VR headsets.
New this year, ESPN sports and lifestyle content creator Katie Feeney will serve as the game’s social media correspondent, appearing in pre-produced segments as an animated version of herself, bringing fans the latest on the Monsters in attendance, an inside look at the Cheer Canister and fun facts about the game.
Monsters Funday Football headlines a massive week of NFL on ESPN, with the network delivering a total of six live NFL games in Week 14.
As the race to the NFL Playoffs heats up, the Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens engage in an AFC North showdown, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears battle for the top of the NFC North division and Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions adds to a huge week of action on ESPN across Week 14.
Week 14 NFL on ESPN
Friday December 5
12.15pm AEDT, Dallas Cowboys vs Detroit Lions, ESPN
Monday December 8
5am AEDT, Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens, ESPN
5am AEDT, Seattle Seahawks vs Atlanta Falcons, ESPN2
5am AEDT, NFL RedZone, Disney+
8.25am AEDT, Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers, ESPN
11.30am AEDT, NFL Blitz, ESPN
12.15pm AEDT, Houston Texans vs Kansas City Chiefs, ESPN
Tuesday December 9
12.15pm AEDT, Monsters Inc Funday Football: Philadelphia Eagles vs Los Angeles Chargers, Disney+
12.15pm AEDT, Philadelphia Eagles vs Los Angeles Chargers, ESPN
ESPN and ESPN2 is available via Disney+, Foxtel, Kayo Sports, Fetch TV and Sky NZ
Media Release – ESPN
Link to ESPN HERE
TV Central ESPN content HERE
Monsters Funday Football headlines Massive Week 14 NFL Action on ESPN
