For many football fans, Sunday began early with a game from London between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons that kicked off at 9:30 a.m. EST. The game was an ESPN+ exclusive, but fans had a new way to consume the game action through a new, innovative alternate broadcast. “Toy Story Funday Football” featured a fully animated version of the game taking place from “Andy’s Room,” part of the Pixar movie franchise, and assimilated announcers Drew Carter, Booger McFarland, and Pepper Persley within the experience.
ESPN promoted the broadcast over the last several weeks through its various platforms of dissemination, leading many children and adults to tune in to see what the presentation would end up looking like. Outside of some early technical difficulties, feedback towards the game was largely positive and served as an example of The Walt Disney Company using its arsenal of intellectual property across its networks.
The Pat & Aaron Show on 95.3 WDAE discussed the broadcast Monday by listening to a recording of Aaron Jacobson reacting to the game in real-time. Show producer Seth Kushner implored listeners to hear what Jacobson thought by saying that he was “a single adult high and plastered watching the Toy Story game.”
After the show played the audio, Jacobson elaborated on his Toy Story Funday Football viewing experience and shared that he had trouble staying engaged with the broadcast. Although it is tailored toward children, there were several adults who thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and found themselves watching it as well. Jacobson, however, was on the dissenting side of this perspective and expressed as such on the show.
“I truly tried for three minutes and it was like, ‘I don’t get it,’” he said.
Ironically enough, Jacobson posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he was reveling in the broadcast and faced questioning from his co-host, Pat Donovan, about why he changed his tune on the air. The question led him to outline his day, which began at 6 AM by watching the Ryder Cup and having a cup of coffee.
“By 10:30-11, my day is now lunchtime; almost dinnertime,” Jacobson said. “I Mad Dog Russo’d it up – I gummied it. I didn’t even half a gummy, [but] I full-gummied it.”
Jacobson shared that he was “flying” for most of the day, leading Donovan to share that he received a text from an unnamed co-worker that he was intrigued and captivated by the Toy Story Funday Football broadcast.
Jacobson joked that the marijuana may have had an effect on how he viewed the broadcast. Nonetheless, Sunday in Tampa ended up being an enjoyable experience complete with plenty of sports and football activity.
“It was all of it – I didn’t even drink until the afternoon yesterday,” Jacobson said. “It was a great day with a Bucs win [and] hanging out watching all the other games.”
