Disney is bringing football’s biggest night to Disney+, giving viewers another reason to subscribe beyond its movies and television shows.
Super Bowl LXI will stream on the platform on February 14, 2027, alongside broadcasts on ESPN and ABC. The move could attract customers with little interest in Disney’s entertainment catalog.
The opportunity comes as Disney’s streaming originals struggle to reach the top of the charts. According to Nielsen streaming data, none of the company’s original streaming shows cracked the top ten for the 2025–2026 season.
A recent price increase for longtime bundle subscribers adds pressure on Disney to demonstrate its streaming services’ value.
Although the company presents the expansion as another way for fans to watch, its potential to drive subscriptions is difficult to overlook.
Football Joins Disney’s Streaming Lineup
According to Disney’s announcement, all Disney+ subscribers in the United States will have access to the traditional ESPN/ABC presentation and the Spanish-language ESPN Deportes broadcast.
The game will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, marking ESPN’s first Super Bowl production. Disney+ will also carry the event in more than 55 international markets.
A clip from the NFL on YouTube – YouTube, NFL
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Before February, subscribers will have two opportunities to watch Monday Night Football on the platform. Dallas visits Philadelphia on October 26, while the second matchup has yet to be announced. Both games will air on television as scheduled.
Those broadcasts could help establish Disney+ as a destination for live football before the championship arrives.
Existing subscribers receive another benefit, while potential customers gain a specific reason to sign up.
Tubi and Peacock Show the Potential
Disney follows two consecutive Super Bowls carried by prominent streaming services.
Fox streamed Super Bowl LIX on its free, advertising-supported Tubi platform in February 2025. Tubi reported an average minute audience of 13.6 million, with concurrent streaming viewership peaking at 15.5 million. Its broader game-day programming reached 24 million unique viewers.
The Tubi Logo – Tubi
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Peacock subsequently streamed Super Bowl LX in February 2026. Nielsen’s updated figures put the game’s average audience at 125.6 million across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL+. That figure covers the combined audience, rather than Peacock alone.
Subscription numbers provide another useful comparison.
Research firm Antenna estimated that Peacock generated 2.9 million sign-ups during the three-day period surrounding Super Bowl LX. However, the Winter Olympics were also underway, making it difficult to attribute every sign-up to football.
Nevertheless, the surge illustrates why Disney might view the championship as an opportunity to attract paying customers.
Higher Prices Raise the Stakes
Disney recently increased its legacy Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Select bundle from $24.99 to $27.99 per month, beginning with billing cycles on or after September 17. The additional $3 amounts to $36 annually, or roughly a 12% increase.
That increase applies specifically to the legacy bundle. Still, the Super Bowl gives Disney a prominent attraction to promote as some longtime customers face higher bills.
A screenshot from The Mandalorian and Grogu Super Bowl spot – Lucasfilm
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Unlike Tubi’s free stream, Disney+ can collect subscription revenue from viewers choosing its platform. ABC’s simultaneous broadcast, however, offers an alternative that does not require a Disney+ subscription.
Attracting customers for one evening is only the first step. Fans who subscribe for the game can cancel afterward.
Disney’s broader catalog will therefore need to give them a reason to keep paying. The Super Bowl may drive subscriptions, but retaining those customers will offer a more meaningful measure of the strategy’s success.
What do you think about the Super Bowl streaming on Disney+? Sound off and let us know!
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