Disney is about to do something NEW for Christmas this year!

©ESPN/Disney

During Disney’s most recent earnings call, CEO Bob Iger spoke highly about the value of live sports, especially to advertisers. He also discussed the upcoming ESPN+ tile coming to Disney+ and the potential for AI-powered enhancements that may allow Disney to create “personalized” versions of SportsCenter. With all that, it should come as no surprise that Disney has now announced another technologically-advanced sports initiative. And it’s happening soon.

Disney is teaming up with the NBA and ESPN for a Dunk the Halls event on Christmas Day. The broadcast will feature the “first real-time animated NBA game using Sony’s Beyond Sports technology…when the New York Knicks – led by Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns – host the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul.”

The broadcast, which will be the first animated presentation of an NBA game, will air on ESPN2, ESPN+, and (for the first time ever for any NBA game) Disney+. The virtual game, set on a recreation of Main Street U.S.A. at the Magic Kingdom, will use “state-of-the-art real-time visualization technology enabled by Sony’s Beyond Sports, combined with Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking.” Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip and Dale will cheer on the players.

©ESPN/Disney

In addition to the fully-rendered presentation of the game, the broadcast will also feature:

• The Disney characters, led by Mickey Mouse, will “compete in a special slam dunk contest” at halftime
• Santa’s Elves will operate the cameras for the game while Santa himself will operate ESPN’s “SkyCam”
• The Disney characters will also “deliver pregame and halftime speeches to the players and decorate a large Christmas tree during the game”
• Fans will also get to find out if it will “snow on “Main Street, U.S.A.” and see how many churros Goofy can eat”

©ESPN/Disney

Commentators Drew Carter and Monica McNutt will also be part of the fun, as they’ll be “animated in the style of the telecast and don ESPN Edge Innovation Partner’s Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Main Street, U.S.A. thanks to VR technology and Sony’s Beyond Sports’ Virtual Commentator Technology.” In addition, Daisy Duck will “serve as the sideline reporter.”

Dunk the Halls will follow in the footsteps of previous Disney/ESPN collaborations, including Marvel’s Arena of Heroes, (an alt-cast of an NBA regular-season game in 2021) and the upcoming The Simpsons Funday Football presentation of a Monday Night Football game, which is scheduled to stream on Disney+ and ESPN+ on December 9th.

©ESPN/Disney

Disney is teaming up with the NBA and ESPN to produce a special Dunk the Halls broadcast on Christmas, putting an even larger emphasis on the live sports part of their business! Stay tuned to DFB for more on this collaboration.

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