Super Bowl to super-stream on Disney+ beginning next year

As to whether people will flock to Disney+ to watch a game they’ve historically enjoyed and (at least for now) will continue to enjoy on ABC, that remains to be seen, though the three companies are very enthusiastic about this development: Two Monday Night Football regular-season games will also be made available on the streamer in “the lead-up to the big game.” (Per Variety.) The first of those games has been announced—it’s Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, October 26—while the second will be announced once someone wins that game, one presumes. At any rate, MNF, which is also the subject of a new HBO documentary about Dennis Miller’s tenure on the broadcast, will remain available on the ESPN app in the United States.

Consider this decision a mutually beneficial move between Disney and the NFL, with ESPN in the middle, as ESPN is producing the world-famous game for the first time in its history. Disney, which owns ESPN, just wants to ensure it nets as many eyeballs as possible ahead of the match to accommodate all the advertising space it recently sold out of. Think of it as support, much like that of a proud parent cheering on their athlete child as they knock yet another opponent to the dirt. In a way, everyone’s a winner!