SAN DIEGO—The trend towards creating animated alternative live presentations of professional sports continues with news that ESPN will air the first-ever real-time, animated alternate presentation of an NBA game this year on Christmas.
For the event, Sony’s Beyond Sports is collaborating with ESPN, Disney, and the NBA for “Dunk the Halls,” a special Christmas Day alternate presentation of the San Antonio Spurs-New York Knicks game at noon ET, Wednesday, Dec. 25.
The animated production will use data processing and real-time visualization technology from Beyond Sports, as well as optical tracking technology from Hawk-Eye Innovations, to insert iconic Disney characters into the game action using 3D animation, while the two teams play in real time.
Dunk the Halls will be presented on ESPN2, ESPN+, and on Disney+. ESPN will air the live game.
Dunk the Halls is the third major sports telecast in 2024 to use Sony’s Beyond Sports’ real-time visualization engine, including the “NHL Big City Greens Classic 2” on Mar. 9 and the NFL ”The Simpsons Funday Football” on Dec. 9. The technology was also used for the three-time Sports Emmy Award-winning Toy Story Funday Football, featuring the Atlanta Falcons vs. Jacksonville Jaguars game in London in October 2023.
“Real-time visualization and virtual alternate productions have clearly emerged from being a novelty into an established tentpole of broadcast and streaming programming,” Sander J. Schouten, managing director and co-founder at Beyond Sports, said. “Every time, we’re ready to deliver an innovative, immersive, and interactive altcast that puts viewers right in the heart of the action. This isn’t just the future of sports consumption—it’s the trend reshaping the industry today. With our latest telecast, fans can expect all of that, plus an added touch of Christmas magic.”
ESPN reported that fans watching Dunk the Halls will see animated versions of every play from the real-life Spurs vs. Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in New York, with iconic Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale will be inserted into the telecast.
Fans can also expect to see them participate in a halftime slam dunk contest; delivering pregame and halftime speeches to the players; and decorating a large Christmas tree during the game. Elves will operate cameras, with Santa Claus operating ESPN’s “SkyCam” during the game.
The Christmas Day production will combine Beyond Sports’ data processing and real-time visualization technology Sony’s optical tracking from Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations, allowing each Spurs and Knicks player to appear as a motion-enabled, animated player.
Beyond Sports developed a unique data processing engine to optimize basketball optical tracking data from Sony's Hawk-Eye Innovations. By validating and enriching the data with advanced enhancement technology, they create more precise and lifelike animations. This process ensures the animations achieve a heightened level of realism and fluidity, making the content not only more visually compelling, but also more engaging and immersive for viewers.
“Adapting our data enhancement system to these new sports formats was essential,” Nicolaas Westerhof, chief technology officer and co-founder at Beyond Sports, said. “For example, the original ankle and toe data points can result in unnatural movements. By adding details like foot roll dynamics, we ensure smoother, more realistic visuals, significantly improving the viewer’s experience.”
In addition to planned visual elements and creative features like gingerbread referees, Beyond Sports’ virtual commentator technology will insert the ESPN announcers calling the game into the animated production. The virtual commentator technology uses a virtual reality headset to capture the real commentators’ upper body movements and facial expressions and create 3D animations. The technology brings the commentators closer to the action, enabling them to engage with the gameplay and audience like never before.
