{"id":23322,"date":"2026-05-14T06:11:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T06:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=23322"},"modified":"2026-05-14T06:11:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T06:11:24","slug":"with-a-new-ceo-at-the-helm-disney-maintains-its-splashy-upfront-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=23322","title":{"rendered":"With a new CEO at the helm, Disney maintains its splashy upfront strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body-content\">\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">Upfronts week can be something of a slog. On Tuesday evening at the Javits Center, the Walt Disney Company did its best to get advertisers singing instead of slumping in their seats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">Sports was a hyper-present topic throughout the presentation\u2014not unexpected for the company that owns ESPN and the rights to the 2027 Super Bowl\u2014and Disney execs leaned into other live entertainment properties like <em>Dancing with the Stars<\/em>, the Grammys, and the Oscars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">\u201cIt\u2019s really just a year of live, and we own it,\u201d Adam Monaco, EVP of sales for Disney Advertising, told Marketing Brew ahead of the event, noting the company\u2019s College Football Playoffs, Grammys, Super Bowl, and Academy Awards rights for 2027. \u201cThese are the moments that drive unmatched reach and real-time attention across sports entertainment, as well as cultural moments that matter. Together, they position Disney really at the center of the biggest live-viewing windows in the marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">In typical Disney fashion, a roster of A-list celebrities graced the stage alongside execs; the Savannah Bananas, Anne Hathaway, and new CEO Josh D\u2019Amaro kicked things off, while Jimmy Kimmel closed the show as he usually does\u2014before attendees were treated to a surprise performance from Olivia Rodrigo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\"><strong>Supercharged:<\/strong> It only took about 10 minutes for Disney execs to start dropping Super Bowl mentions, which continued throughout the presentation. Next year marks ESPN\u2019s first-ever Super Bowl broadcast, and the game will also be simulcast on ABC for that network\u2019s first Super Bowl in more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">The Disney ad sales team is already \u201chaving conversations\u201d with marketers from a broad swath of categories about the Super Bowl, Monaco told us. That includes \u201cemerging brands\u201d outside of the expected slate of advertisers and holding companies, he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">Between the Super Bowl and ESPN\u2019s acquisition of NFL Network, the House of Mouse expects a 55% YoY jump in NFL impressions, Rita Ferro, president of global advertising, said onstage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">Beyond NFL Network, Disney\u2019s romance with the league was on display in the form of a near football-team-sized lineup of current and former players, including Super Bowl MVPs Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Steve Young, Emmitt Smith, Desmond Howard, Jerry Rice, Hines Ward, Kurt Warner, and Nick Foles. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell even spent some time on stage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\"><strong>Cinematic:<\/strong> The list of actors who presented could also likely fill a stadium. Among them were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, Billie Lourd, and Emma Roberts, who welcomed Paul Anthony Kelly to the cast of <em>American Horror Story<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Brie Larson, Olivia Colman, Kaia Gerber, Igby Rigney, Homer Gere, Christopher Meloni, William H. Macy, Mandy Moore, Lindsay Lohan, Shailene Woodley, Kit Harington, Claire Danes, and Ewan McGregor, who all introduced new shows;<\/li>\n<li>And Marvel Cinematic Universe heavyweights Robert Downey Jr., Tom Hiddleston, and Paul Bettany.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"style__InlineSubscribeWrapper-sc-9b30af34-1 xBGLJ inline-subscribe\">\n<div id=\"inline-subscribe\" class=\"style__RoundedContainer-sc-bac6188c-0 jnRTsW\">\n<h5 class=\"inline-subscribe\">Get marketing news you&#8217;ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n<p class=\"inline-subscribe\">Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\"><strong>Full field:<\/strong> Football wasn\u2019t the only sport on Disney\u2019s upfront stage. After the Savannah Bananas opened the show, Bananas second baseman Jackson Olson announced that the Banana Bowl would stream live on Disney+ this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Kenny Smith, and NBA Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg spoke about <em>Inside the NBA<\/em>, and WNBA rookie Lauren Betts, UConn Huskies forward Sarah Strong, and <em>SportsCenter<\/em> anchor and analyst Christine Williamson brought women\u2019s basketball to the stage, as well as tennis. They introduced Billie Jean King, who hit balls into the crowd and teed up a trailer for the upcoming ESPN documentary about her, called <em>Give Me the Ball!<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\"><strong>Look alive:<\/strong> In addition to sports, the Disney presentation emphasized live entertainment properties like <em>Dancing with the Stars<\/em>. The pros hit the stage for a dance number featuring Season 34 winner Robert Irwin, who then announced Olson as a contestant for next season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\"><strong>The kicker:<\/strong> Kimmel wrapped things up with a few laughs as always. The Disney upfront mainstay joked about his temporary suspension from the ABC airwaves last year, got in the weeds about measurement, roasted Fox and NBCUniversal, told the audience \u201cyou\u2019re all f&#8212;ed\u201d thanks to AI, and ended with a dramatic adieu.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">\u201cThat\u2019s it from me\u2014probably forever,\u201d Kimmel said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketingbrew.com\/stories\/sports-stars-singing-disney-upfront?utm_source=&#038;utm_medium=syndication&#038;utm_campaign=feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Upfronts week can be something of a slog. On Tuesday evening at the Javits Center, the Walt Disney Company did its best to get advertisers singing instead of slumping in their seats. Sports was a hyper-present topic throughout the presentation\u2014not unexpected for the company that owns ESPN and the rights to the 2027 Super Bowl\u2014and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-marketing"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>With a new CEO at the helm, Disney maintains its splashy upfront strategy | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Upfronts week can be something of a slog. 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