Disney’s 2025 upfront presentation started with a bang.
The House of Mouse kicked off its 80-minute presentation to advertisers Tuesday evening with a performance from the Brooklyn United Drumline. Drum Major Mickey Mouse himself even made an appearance, and he was hardly the only recognizable face to take the stage at the Javits Center.
In typical Disney fashion, the event was packed with famous actors and athletes, who occasionally ceded the spotlight to Disney execs underscoring the media company’s audience reach, breadth of content, and ad tech capabilities.
“Our portfolio spans sports, streaming, and stories that connect, [and] content, technology, and culture in ways like no one else can, while building meaningful connections at scale, because to truly reach audiences and be of real brand value, you need three things: an unrivaled content portfolio, technology built for streaming, and a data infrastructure designed for outcomes,” Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global ad sales, said onstage. “That’s where the real magic happens.”
All in one: After Mickey and the marching band, Super Bowl rivals Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles took the stage to introduce Disney CEO Bob Iger and set the tone for a sports-heavy hour and a half.
Peyton and Eli Manning performed a musical number (only the second most-embarrassing moment for a former pro athlete of upfronts week so far), Stephen A. Smith showed off the new ESPN app, Glen Powell and the Mannings introduced their new Hulu football show Chad Powers, and Mahomes previewed an upcoming ESPN docuseries about the Chiefs called The Kingdom.
Earlier in the day, Disney announced its new DTC sports streaming app that will roll out this fall and is called ESPN. Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who has roasted Disney and the industry for years, was quick to call out the potential confusion between the ESPN network, the new app, and the sports property’s other streaming app, ESPN+. “That’s why they call us ‘Imagineers,’” he said.
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Full field: Live sports were a point of emphasis throughout the presentation, as Knicks legends Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, and John Starks helped sports analyst Monica McNutt highlight Disney’s NBA rights, ESPN reporter Laura Rutledge and University of Texas Longhorns head football coach Steve Sarkisian discussed ESPN’s college football portfolio, and NFL legends Jason Kelce, Joe Buck, and Troy Aikman—along with Barkley—spoke about Monday Night Football viewership and the 2027 Super Bowl on ESPN and ABC.
ESPN basketball analysts Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter, and Chiney Ogwumike also announced Vibe Check, a women-led sports studio show coming to Disney+ next month. Sports is a “growth pillar” for Disney, Adam Monaco, EVP of sales for Disney Advertising, told Marketing Brew ahead of the event.
“We are doing more and more multi-year deals on the sports front,” he said. “We have clients that want to commit to all those valuable assets and keep them for two, four, five-plus years, and so we’re already in market having those conversations.”
Trailer park: It wouldn’t be the Disney upfront without multiple movie and show trailers. This year, the media company, which owns major studios including Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, gave its upfront audience a look at Tuesday night’s Andor Season 2 finale, Marvel Television’s Wonder Man, the upcoming season of The Bear, Ryan Murphy’s The Beauty and All’s Fair, and FX and Hulu’s Alien: Earth series.
Naming rights: In addition to his usual roast, Kimmel added something new to his performance this year. Before appearing on stage, Disney showed a video of Kimmel from a hospital waiting for the birth of his grandchild, while also auctioning off naming rights to the newborn.
“Over the next few days, our family is expected to see 12% quarterly growth, and we’d like to build on that,” Kimmel joked in the video. “For the first time ever, your company can put its brand on the legal birth certificate of a human child.”
Isn’t that what upfronts week is all about?
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