ESPN+ is set to air a special Simpsons-themed alternate presentation of a Monday Night Football game in December. Plus: the NCAA women’s basketball title game is staying put in its midday window; Browns voice Jim Donovan has died.
ESPN+ to air “Simpsons” version of Bengals-Cowboys on MNF
ESPN is collaborating with “The Simpsons” on an animated alternate presentation of the December 9 Bengals-Cowboys Monday Night Football game, it was announced Monday. The telecast, which is set to air on ESPN+ and Disney+, will be the second in a “Funday Football” series that debuted last year with “Toy Story”-themed coverage of a Falcons-Jaguars game from London. ESPN+ has also carried multiple NHL games animated in the style of the Disney Channel series “Big City Greens.”
Like those previous alternate presentations, the “Simpsons” version will transform the players on the field into animated characters, with the existing characters — voiced by the show’s main cast — serving as coaches or spectators. Bart (Nancy Cartwright) will coach the Bengals, Homer (Dan Castellaneta) will coach the Cowboys, and Marge (Julie Kavner) and Lisa (Yeardley Smith) will interview players. Though “The Simpsons” is a FOX program, Disney acquired ownership of the series as part of its $71 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets in 2018.
Calling the game will be Drew Carter — who also worked play-by-play for the “Toy Story” telecast — alongside Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky.
Cartoon-themed alternate presentations are by no means limited to ESPN; Paramount carried a “Spongebob Squarepants” themed alternate presentation of the Super Bowl in February.
NCAA women’s basketball title game staying in midday window
The NCAA women’s basketball national championship will remain in its 3 PM ET timeslot on ABC this season, ESPN said as part of its 2024-25 schedule announcement Monday. After the title game averaged nearly 19 million viewers last season, there was some thought that the network would consider a later start time — perhaps even in primetime — but it is rare for ABC to risk preempting its Sunday primetime lineup (or even World News Tonight) with live sports.
The title game aired in a Sunday evening window on ESPN from 2016-22 and last aired in primetime in 2015, the last year it aired on a Tuesday.
The Friday night national semifinals will also remain on ESPN.
Longtime Browns voice Jim Donovan passes away
Longtime Cleveland Browns play-by-play voice and WKYC-NBC sports director Jim Donovan died Saturday after battling cancer. He was 68.
Donovan had been the voice of Browns games since the team returned to the NFL in 1999. He was first diagnosed with leukemia one year later and underwent a bone marrow transplant in 2011. He took a leave of absence prior to last season, but returned for the playoffs before ultimately having to retire during the offseason.
