The Simpsons Funday Football: ESPN Records Unique Twist on Monday Night Football Theme for Animated Alternative Broadcast The recording, with members of Louisiana Philharmonic, was coordinated through APM Music By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Monday, December 9, 2024 - 2:26 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Monday night's The Simpsons Funday Football alternative broadcast on ESPN will unite two of the most iconic brands in U.S. television history, not only visually but also musically.
ESPN partnered with APM Music to produce a bespoke theme for The Simpsons Funday Football.
Two of the more culturally relevant pieces of music in the TV medium have been blended into a special custom theme. Through a partnership with music-licensing agency APM Music, ESPN recorded a new song for tonight's altcast. It combines the Monday Night Football theme (or as it's known by its more formal name, Heavy Action ) with the main title theme of the biggest animated show in history.
SVG goes behind the scenes in Springfield (and Bristol) with in-depth coverage of every aspect of the production:
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW: Inside the Tech That ESPN and the NFL Use To Bring Springfield to Life
PRODUCTION OPERATIONS: The Game May Be Set in Springfield, but the Production Team Is in Bristol
CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: ESPN Creative Studio's Michael Spike' Szykowny Pulls Back the Curtain on Creative Process
TRACKING TECHNOLOGY: Sony's Beyond Sports CEO Sander Shouten Analyzes How Tracking Tech Enables Real-Time Animated Altcasts
MUSIC & THEME SONG: ESPN Records Unique Twist on Monday Night Football Theme for Animated Alternative Broadcast
Creatively, this wasn't a simple mashup. The two pieces of music are significantly different and required an orchestra combining abilities in both classical music and jazz. The pieces are in different keys, they have different tempos, the pacing is different, and they require different-size orchestras, explains Robert Navarro, creative director, APM Music.
The challenge, adds producer Jeff Rona, was to figure out how to bring these two worlds together without its sounding like a complete collision.
To pull it off, ESPN - led by Music Operations Supervisor Joanne Strange and Coordinating Director, Music, Claude Mitchell - and APM Music gathered an orchestra largely made up of members of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra for a recording that took place at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans on Nov. 13.
Heavy Action was composed in 1970 by legendary British composer Johnny Pearson. It might come as a surprise that, although Heavy Action is indelibly linked with Monday Night Football, it was not composed specifically for the NFL property and is, in fact, not owned by ESPN or The Walt Disney Co. It was originally produced for 1970s sports-TV reality competition show Superstars. The rights to the theme are owned by APM Music.
Meanwhile, the theme song for The Simpsons, also referred to as The Simpsons Main Title Theme, was composed in 1989 by another musical icon: American film composer Danny Elfman, whose work lives in entertainment lore on many Tim Burton projects - Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Beetlejuice - as well as A Nightmare Before Christmas, the first two Spider-Man films, Dick Tracy, the first Mission: Impossible, and all the Men in Black films. Even with that r sum , Elfman has called The Simpsons theme his most popular piece of music.
The rise of alternative broadcasts increasingly offers the media and entertainment industry unique opportunities to bring together prominent pieces of intellectual property that would normally never occupy the same space. Already, ESPN alternative broadcasts have united diverse IP: Toy Story with the NFL, the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the NBA, and Disney Channel cartoon Big City Greens with the NHL. In the eyes of APM Music brass, the industry is just scratching the surface for what this might mean for music rights in the future.
We are the keepers of the Heavy Action' flame, says Matthew Gutknecht, VP, sports entertainment, APM Music. The possibilities within the Disney multiverse alone are really exciting. This is not just the ESPN or the NFL calendar anymore; it's also the Disney calendar. I mean, if we can do Star Wars, it would be nuts. It's wild to think of the possibilities.
This is not the first time that ESPN has partnered with APM to re-imagine Heavy Action for Monday Night Football. After helping bring back the theme's original Pearson arrangement to MNF in 2018, APM also helped produce an EDM remix of the song two years ago with Grammy-nominated artist Marshmello.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
12/05/2026
CVP, one of Europe's leading suppliers of professional video and broadcast solutions, has appointed Randy Koeman as Sales Manager, Netherlands, marking anot...
12/05/2026
Taiwan Television has expanded its HD content ingest workflow capabilities by investing in the PlayBox Neo Suite - a leading multi-channel multi-server UHD/HD/S...
12/05/2026
Jigsaw24 is strengthening its media team with the appointment of Tom Laker as Client Director and Ashish Chauhan as Project Manager. These strategic hires bring...
12/05/2026
Broadcast playout leader showcases hybrid IP infrastructure and workflow automation with Videoland deployment as regional benchmark...
12/05/2026
dzjinius, the all-in-one production management platform for the media and entertainment industry, will showcase its centralised approach to production workflows...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
The Simpsons Funday Football: ESPN Records Unique Twist on Monday Night Football Theme for Animated Alternative Broadcast The recording, with members of Louisiana Philharmonic, was coordinated through APM Music By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
