Sports, stars, singing: With new CEO, Disney maintains splashy upfront strategy

Upfronts week can be something of a slog. On Tuesday evening at the Javits Center, the Walt Disney Company did its best to get advertisers singing instead of slumping in their seats.

Sports was a hyper-present topic throughout the presentation—not unexpected for the company that owns ESPN and the rights to the 2027 Super Bowl—and Disney execs leaned into other live entertainment properties like Dancing with the Stars, the Grammys, and the Oscars.

“It’s really just a year of live, and we own it,” Adam Monaco, EVP of sales for Disney Advertising, told Marketing Brew ahead of the event, noting the company’s College Football Playoffs, Grammys, Super Bowl, and Academy Awards rights for 2027. “These are the moments that drive unmatched reach and real-time attention across sports entertainment, as well as cultural moments that matter. Together, they position Disney really at the center of the biggest live-viewing windows in the marketplace.”

In typical Disney fashion, a roster of A-list celebrities graced the stage alongside execs; the Savannah Bananas, Anne Hathaway, and new CEO Josh D’Amaro kicked things off, while Jimmy Kimmel closed the show as he usually does—before attendees were treated to a surprise performance from Olivia Rodrigo.

Supercharged: It only took about 10 minutes for Disney execs to start dropping Super Bowl mentions, which continued throughout the presentation. Next year marks ESPN’s first-ever Super Bowl broadcast, and the game will also be simulcast on ABC for that network’s first Super Bowl in more than a decade.

The Disney ad sales team is already “having conversations” with marketers from a broad swath of categories about the Super Bowl, Monaco told us. That includes “emerging brands” outside of the expected slate of advertisers and holding companies, he added.

Between the Super Bowl and ESPN’s acquisition of NFL Network, the House of Mouse expects a 55% YoY jump in NFL impressions, Rita Ferro, president of global advertising, said onstage.

Beyond NFL Network, Disney’s romance with the league was on display in the form of a near football-team-sized lineup of current and former players, including Super Bowl MVPs Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Steve Young, Emmitt Smith, Desmond Howard, Jerry Rice, Hines Ward, Kurt Warner, and Nick Foles. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell even spent some time on stage.

Cinematic: The list of actors who presented could also likely fill a stadium. Among them were:

• Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, Billie Lourd, and Emma Roberts, who welcomed Paul Anthony Kelly to the cast of American Horror Story;
• Brie Larson, Olivia Colman, Kaia Gerber, Igby Rigney, Homer Gere, Christopher Meloni, William H. Macy, Mandy Moore, Lindsay Lohan, Shailene Woodley, Kit Harington, Claire Danes, and Ewan McGregor, who all introduced new shows;
• And Marvel Cinematic Universe heavyweights Robert Downey Jr., Tom Hiddleston, and Paul Bettany.

Full field: Football wasn’t the only sport on Disney’s upfront stage. After the Savannah Bananas opened the show, Bananas second baseman Jackson Olson announced that the Banana Bowl would stream live on Disney+ this year.

Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and NBA Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg spoke about Inside the NBA, and WNBA rookie Lauren Betts, UConn Huskies forward Sarah Strong, and SportsCenter anchor and analyst Christine Williamson brought women’s basketball to the stage, as well as tennis. They introduced Billie Jean King, who hit balls into the crowd and teed up a trailer for the upcoming ESPN documentary about her, called Give Me the Ball!

Look alive: In addition to sports, the Disney presentation emphasized live entertainment properties like Dancing with the Stars. The pros hit the stage for a dance number featuring Season 34 winner Robert Irwin, who then announced Olson as a contestant for next season.

The kicker: Kimmel wrapped things up with a few laughs as always. The Disney upfront mainstay joked about his temporary suspension from the ABC airwaves last year, got in the weeds about measurement, roasted Fox and NBCUniversal, told the audience “you’re all f---ed” thanks to AI, and ended with a dramatic adieu.

“That’s it from me—probably forever,” Kimmel said.