
Mickey Mouse can dunk. Who knew? On Christmas Day 2024, during the first animated NBA alt-cast, called “Dunk the Halls,” the Disney icon showed off his B-ball skills, along with Minnie, Donald, and, of course, big man Goofy. Elves operated the cameras and Santa Claus, ESPN's SkyCam.
To complement traditional sports broadcasts, networks such as NBC, ESPN, and CBS have been investing in new viewing experiences (aka alt-casts) to enhance fan engagement and attract new audiences—most likely in response to heightened competition for viewers and advertisers from new content services and platforms.
The "Dunk the Halls" alt-cast of the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks game marked the first animated presentation of an NBA game.Photo: Courtesy of Disney
Many fans first got a taste of this new production trend during last year’s Super Bowl, when Paramount Global offered a separate broadcast of the game on Nickelodeon, complete with its own sportscasters, TV commercials, and signature green slime.
This past Saturday, CBS Sports offered another family-friendly alternate broadcast on Nickelodeon, with slime-filled coverage of the Wild Card Weekend playoff matchup between the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers.
The alt-cast transported viewers to SpongeBob SquarePants' home of Bikini Bottom, featuring cameos by a range of Paramount characters, including SpongeBob and Patrick Star, Dora the Explorer, Sonic the Hedgehog, Wanda and Cosmo from The Fairly OddParents, and a PAW Patrol-themed virtual blimp.
“The reason we're doing [alt-casts] is to target that new generation of sports fans. Their way of consuming sports has changed so much compared to what we would view as regular sports consumption 30 years ago,” explained Zino Prins, business development manager for Beyond Sports, an AI-based data analysis and visualization company in the Netherlands that has worked with sports leagues and broadcasters to produce these types of alternative broadcasts.
ESPN recently enlisted The Simpsons for a Monday Night Football simulcast on Dec. 9. "The Simpsons Funday Football," a real-time animated presentation of the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys, streamed on Disney+ and ESPN+ and on mobile with NFL+.Photo: Melissa Rawlins/ESPN Images
Prins cited the animated version of a game between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars broadcast from Wembley Stadium in London that utilized Toy Story characters such as Woody, Buzz, Bo Peep, Bullseye, and Slinky Dog, saying that the alt-cast allowed families to watch the game together, with the parents viewing on traditional TV and the kids via their devices.
To create these animated player substitutions, Sony’s Beyond Sports uses data processing and real-time visualization technology, along with optical tracking technology from Hawk-Eye Innovations, to insert the characters into the action using 3D animation.
“What the players are doing in real life, you see that happening in the 'Dunk the Halls' game. The only difference is that instead of [Victor] Wembanyama hitting a three-pointer, it's Mickey doing it," Prins said.
During the Monday Night Football game, announcer Drew Carter provided the play-by-play.Photo: Melissa Rawlins/ESPN Images
Of course, not all alt-casts feature cartoon characters. During this year’s Fiesta Bowl, which took place Dec. 31 and is sponsored by Vrbo, the vacation rental platform offered fans an announcer-free experience featuring uninterrupted SkyCam footage via ESPNU and the ESPN app.
The alt-cast built upon the brand’s college football campaign, which highlights Vrbo as the only platform that offers private vacation homes with no hosts. “Just like vacations, we know that college football can also be enjoyed without commentary from hosts/announcers that take viewers out of the game environment,” said Liseli Sitali, director of football and music partnerships at Expedia Group.
“This additional broadcast unlocked opportunities for Vrbo to meet viewers where they are, reach more fans, and offer unique ways to engage with them,” Sitali added. During the SkyCast, fans at home were also able to scan on-screen QR codes to enter a sweepstakes for the chance to win a trip to the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship.
As for the future of sports alt-casts, Prins predicts them to become more engaging and interactive with audiences. “You allow audiences to choose their own cameras to maybe choose the IP or choose the way they want to watch it. One wants to watch it in a Disney character form and the other one wants to watch it with different IP—basically giving audiences the power to make the experience customizable to what they want to see.”