You’ve never seen the NFL like this before!: Disney+ shows “Toy Story” version of a football game – UPDATE

Update from October 2nd, 2023: The football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Atlanta Falcons came and went, but in Germany there was still nothing to be seen, at least on Disney+. RTL had exclusive rights to broadcast the NFL in this country – but only for one day. From October 2, 2023 at 7 p.m., the “Toy Story” version of the game will also be available in Germany on Disney+, not live, but at least!

Original message: The National Football League, or NFL for short, puts on one of the biggest sporting events in the world every year with the Super Bowl, but that’s not enough. The aim is to get more spectators interested in the sport, not just in the USA but worldwide.

As a result, some NFL games now take place outside the USA, including in Germany and Great Britain. American football has long had a loyal following in this country, and this success is expected to be further strengthened by the international venues. But now the NFL has come up with a new strategy that is aimed primarily at children and people who don’t like sports.

The football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Atlanta Falcons will take place in London on October 1, 2023 at 3:30 p.m. German time. RTL is broadcasting the game in Germany, while ESPN+ has secured the rights in the USA.

But the game can not only be seen there, but also on Disney+ – in an unusual form. Called “Toy Story Funday Football,” the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons game will be broadcast in a digital reenactment that turns all of the players into toys.

A small delay of around 30 seconds is expected; the real players and their actions are recorded by state-of-the-art tracking technology and transformed into small football figures by artificial intelligence. In Andy’s room, which is known from the first three “Toy Story” films, the audience experiences the entire NFL game, just in the “Toy Story” universe.

Well-known characters such as Woody, Buzz and Porzellinchen will be seen on the sidelines, and during the half-time break the stuntman toy Duke Caboom from “Toy Story 4” will perform a daring stunt.

Football fans might prefer to watch the game from the “London Games” series the old-fashioned way, but for laypeople who have little to do with football but a lot with Disney and “Toy Story”, this idea is certainly fun and interesting.

So far it has only been confirmed that “Toy Story Funday Football” will be broadcast live on Disney+ in 95 countries and/or available to stream afterwards. It is not yet known whether Germany is one of them, but with a VPN service like CyberGhost you could easily access the international Disney+ offering.