Disney’s upfront is a big event, but with ESPN/ABC this season returning to the Super Bowl rotation for the first time since 2006, football is likely going to have an outsized role at the Javits Center in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon.
“From a platform perspective, from a capability perspective — especially when you think about the creative capabilities of the Walt Disney Co. from cross-platform storytelling — there’s going to be some great surprises along the way as well in terms of storytelling and a lot of surprise and delight for fans all culminating in the most comprehensive Super Bowl coverage in history,” said Danielle Brown, Disney Advertising’s SVP/sports streaming and brand solutions.
Brown noted ESPN/ABC will have 40% of football impressions across NFL and college football this coming season, and that presents unique opportunities for brands (not to mention non-sports tentpoles like the Oscars and Grammys). “We do have brands that come to us and say, ‘How do I break through across both?’ And that is something that we’re in constant conversations about,” she said.
Tech and AI brands are two examples of brands that have raised their hands early to be part of the slate of big events. “They definitely want to break through as it relates to either debuting creative or debuting a product in the game or amplifying their current messaging,” Brown said. “You’ll have some surprises in terms of brands that are coming forth and want to be a part of Disney, the ESPN year at the Super Bowl.”
Not just live sports
Beyond football, one area seeing a lot of interest is ESPN Original Entertainment.
“I can’t even tell you the number of RFPs that we get in regard to wanting to be a part of that storytelling,” Brown said. “From an audience perspective, some of our most consumed content on Disney+ is actually our ESPN original content. We’re bringing in fans that might not have gone to the ESPN app initially. They’re on the periphery, but they want to see and hear the storytelling that ESPN brings. And then once we bring them into that ecosystem, they are going to the ESPN app and to ESPN highlights and things like that.
“So, it’s a great way to draw the more casual fan. It really is something that brands want to be a part of, and they want to build it with us.”
