Whether you’re a fan of The Simpsons or football, it’s safe to say that this week’s Monday Night Football was one for the books, and no – I’m not talking about the traditional broadcast. Instead, it was Sony’s Beyond Sports, the NFL, ESPN, and Disney Plus teaming up for an epic alt-cast that was fun for the whole family.
Oh, and one that took a lot of technological know-how, and maybe some donuts, to get across the line. To unpack how the alternative, real-time broadcast of the match between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys was pulled up and themed to The Simpsons, TechRadar chatted with Sander Schouten, Managing Director and Co-Founder at Beyond Sports.
And it’s a story of the sum of parts as Sony Beyond Sports created this broadcast in real-time, essentially ingesting the live feed and various data points and reanimating them into these 3D characters – even at times with Lisa running on the field – it’s a substantial technological lift.
As Schouten described, it’s the video feed of the game that is optically processed through Sony Hawkeye as well as NFL’s Next Gen Stats (NGS), which is a trove of data on the individual player level courtesy of a sensor built into the uniform.
He said, “So the grass is green. Everything on top of the grass is not green, therefore we can track your pixels.” That’s just the placement on the field, though, so the data from NGS helps make the broadcast “way more natural.” It’s how the game is actually being played and how a player is moving, but it’s also changed on the fly to account for how a character might run the ball on the field.
You also need both data routes – the live feed and sensor stats – to account for occlusion. After all, football is a contact sport. From Sony Beyond Sports’ beginning to its current state, there has been a trove of more data and the inclusion of on-player sensors for a more compelling mix.
Schouten shared that they track “at least 29 skeletal points per person, plus the ball and refers on the pitch. So that’s already a lot, and we do that around 50 times per second, so it’s a lot of data.”
Another big change between this The Simpsons Funday Football and the previous collaboration with Disney and Pixar for a Toy Story-themed broadcast was that the players were on the field; Schouten even explained that they had to use the sensor stats to help mold player movements into Lisa. There was even a moment where Bart Simpson worked together with Ralph Wigum – Chief Wigum’s son – to score a touchdown with Lisa Simpson on the other side. Again, all in real-time, processed from real Bengals or Cowboys players, turned into cartoons.
Ahead of gameday – which was on December 9, 2024 – Schouten and the team at Sony’s Beyond Sports worked with the animators for The Simpsons to create Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as well as pre-record some elements from the game, even with Grandpa Simpson in the crowd and select sky cam elements. And that’s the storytelling aspect, which was a sticking point for Schouten. He said, “If you really think about it, I think this is going to be a generational binding thing. It’s what a sport is all about, gathering people, and this is a way to gather generations over time, again.”
Now, while Sony’s Beyond Sports has partnered with the NFL before, the brand will also be tackling the NBA with Dunk the Halls,’ the first-ever real-time animated game for the league that will take place on Main Street USA at Disney World with Mickey and Minnie in attendance for the matchup between San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks. That will stream on Disney Plus and ESPN Plus on Christmas Day, December 25, 2024.
Schouten mentioned that, considering it’s basketball, he “expects less volatility in the data stream” as it’s indoors, with fewer people on the court at the time. Considering the cast of iconic characters, he said it’s a good challenge.
As Sony’s Beyond Sports hopefully lines up more games in the future – be it NFL or NBA – the goal is for more interactivity, with QR codes for mini-games on the screen or even collaboration with other Sony brands. While Schouten was quick to note that nothing was signed and sealed, he said, “We’re part of Sony, and Sony owns the game console called PlayStation, and I could see things happening there. You’re already holding a controller, and that’s one step there. We’ve gone from one to many to many to many.”
It seems like creativity is unlimited within Beyond Sports, and I wouldn’t mind one day taking over the match, be it Mickey- The Simpsons-, or Toy Story-themed. Who knows, maybe next season for the NFL, we’ll get every Sunday as a Funday for football.
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