{"id":792211,"date":"2026-05-13T00:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/792211\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T00:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:22:14","slug":"disney-upfront-goes-all-in-on-savannah-bananas-billie-jean-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/792211\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney Upfront Goes All in on Savannah Bananas, Billie Jean King"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDisney<\/a>\u2018s annual upfront presentation to advertisers in New York on Tuesday kicked off with some high-energy antics (and singing) courtesy of the viral sensations the Savannah Bananas. <\/p>\n

\n\tNot long after, it was revealed that the team\u2019s Banana Bowl will stream live on Disney+ in October as part of a larger partnership with Disney<\/a>. That includes standout player Jackson Olson joining \u201cDancing with the Stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNewly minted CEO Josh D\u2019Amaro then took the stage after an introduction from \u201cDevil Wears Prada 2\u201d star Anne Hathaway. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe thing is, you cannot acquire a hundred years of trust,\u201d D\u2019Amaro said. \u201cYou can\u2019t put generations of belonging on a balance sheet. Disney is part of people\u2019s lives in a way few brands have ever been. And in a world of infinite choice and constant distraction, that kind of presence is rare, and getting rarer.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tDisney president of global advertising Rita Ferro then took the stage to tout the company\u2019s ad capabilities, including what she said were \u201cmore intelligent, automated systems.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSports was on deck next. Jason Kelce and Laura Rutledge brought out a lineup of former Super Bowl MVPs in celebration of what ESPN has dubbed the \u201cYear of the Super Bowl,\u201d as the cable network will air the annual NFL championship in 2027 with a simulcast on ABC. Among those onstage were Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Hines Ward and more.<\/p>\n

\n\tLater on, tennis legend Billie Jean King<\/a> arrived to a rousing round of applause from the audience. King\u2019s life and career are set to be explored in a new installment of ESPN\u2019s \u201c30 for 30\u201d franchise. She proceeded to knock a few autographed tennis balls into the crowd.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDancing with the Stars\u201d hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough brought out over three dozen professional dancers, including Mark Ballas, Alan Bersten, Witney Carson, Val Chmerkovskiy, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson and more. Series champ Robert Irwin\u00a0emerged from the crowd to get in on the dancing, but also to tout the upcoming series \u201cDancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAhsoka\u201d star Rosario Dawson, and her very own droid, promised fans an even bigger and better Season 2 of the series, which will debut in \u201cearly 2027,\u201d according to Dawson. That is a nearly four-year gap between Season 2 and the release of the first season in August 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\tMarvel stars Robert Downey Jr., Tom Hiddleston, and Paul Bettany followed suit, including a first-look at the upcoming Disney+ Marvel series \u201cVisionQuest\u201d and the news that the show would premiere in October 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tFX then took over with their usual big swing for one of their shows. This year, it was a creepy performance in honor of the FX franchise \u201cAmerican Horror Story<\/a>,\u201d complete with people in latex suits, scary clowns, and a whole gang of druids. <\/p>\n

\n\tStars Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, Billie Lourd and Emma Roberts took the stage to announce \u201cLove Story\u201d star Paul Anthony Kelly\u2019s addition to the show\u2019s 13th season<\/a>. That was followed by a first look at Ryan Murphy\u2019s new series, \u201cThe Shards.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tLindsay Lohan, Kit Harington and Shailene Woodley also shared a first look at the Hulu miniseries \u201cCount My Lies,\u201d followed by a look at the limited series \u201cCry Wolf\u201d starring Olivia Colman and Brie Larson, with Ewan McGregor and Claire Danes teasing the new series \u201cThe Spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo close the show, Jimmy Kimmel and his 11-year old daughter Jane introduced none other than Olivia Rodrigo to sing her new song \u201cDrop Dead,\u201d followed by her 2021 hit \u201cgood 4 u\u201d and 2023\u2019s \u201cget him back!\u201d In a particularly heartwarming moment, Jane got to take the stage with Rodrigo as part of her closing number.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter the show wrapped, Disney issued a behind-the-scenes photo of the senior executive team responsible for all the shows and initiatives touted from the stage. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFrom left, Debra OConnell (chairman, Disney Entertainment Television), Alan Bergman (chairman, Disney Entertainment Studios), Thomas Mazloum (chairman, Disney Experiences), Dana Walden (president and chief content officer, Walt Disney Co.), Josh D\u2019Amaro (CEO, Walt Disney Co.), Jimmy Pitaro (chairman, ESPN), Rita Ferro (president, Global Advertising, Walt Disney Co.), Asad Ayaz (chief marketing and brand officer, Walt Disney Co.), John Landgraf (chairman FX, Disney Creative).<\/p>\n

\n\t(Pictured top: \u201cAbbott Elementary\u201d star and creator Quinta Brunson and \u201cHigh Potential\u201d star Kaitlin Olson)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Disney\u2018s annual upfront presentation to advertisers in New York on Tuesday kicked off with some high-energy antics (and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":792212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[229947,36441,7299,171,67,132,101014,68],"class_list":["post-792211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-american-horror-story","tag-billie-jean-king","tag-disney","tag-entertainment","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-upfronts","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116564417750339058","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}