The streamer showcased its upcoming slate, including ‘The Artful Dodger,’ ‘The Land’ and ‘Alien: Earth,’ as Disney executives descended on Melbourne ahead of the city’s historic NFL game.

Melbourne is alive with big ideas, big events and big names this week. While the NFL has been the “Eras Tour” for sports fans, Disney+ is rolling out its agenda, showcasing everything from American football to newly commissioned dramas, comedies and thrillers.

Taking over 1 Hotel Melbourne on Thursday, the company flew in industry heavyweights for its 2026 Upfront, bringing hundreds of media buyers and advertising executives together for a presentation that mixed new entertainment, live sport and advertising technology — with cheerleaders adding a suitably American flourish to proceedings.

The timing was deliberate. With Melbourne preparing for the historic NFL clash between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, ESPN and Disney+ used the event to underline the increasingly important role live sport plays within the streaming service.

ESPN personalities Richard Jefferson and Skubie Mageza were on hand to talk up the company’s sports offering, which includes NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB coverage alongside the NBL, WNBL, WNBA and FIBA World Cup.

The NFL Melbourne game was inevitably a major focus, alongside Disney and ESPN’s global broadcast of the 2027 Super Bowl. ESPN says it will offer Australian viewers a minimum of six live NFL games each week.

But there was plenty for film and television audiences too.

Disney’s upcoming slate was packed with familiar names and franchises, including Count My Lies, The Spot, ParadiseSeason 3, Only Murders in London, Marvel Television’s VisionQuest, Lucasfilm’s Ahsoka Season 2 and FX’s Alien: EarthSeason 2.

The biggest response during the entertainment portion of the presentation, however, was reserved for a homegrown production.

Stars Maia Mitchell and Nicholas Burton made a brief appearance to discuss the third and final season of Australian Hulu Original The Artful Dodger, which received an enthusiastic reception from the Melbourne audience.

The continuation of the locally produced series sits alongside Disney’s substantial pipeline of international franchise programming and gives the company an Australian title to place prominently within its 2027 offering.

Disney also screened a trailer for The Land, a multigenerational family drama set against the world of the NFL. With professional American football effectively taking over Melbourne this week, the project provided a neat bridge between the entertainment and sports sides of the presentation.

Another highlight was Australian actor Sam Corlett discussing his role in the upcoming drama. With The Land placing the NFL at the centre of a multigenerational family story, Corlett’s appearance provided another local connection at an event already capitalising on Melbourne’s embrace of American football.

The broader message from Disney was that the company increasingly sees Disney+ not simply as a home for its traditional entertainment brands, but as the digital centre of its relationship with audiences, bringing Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, Hulu and ESPN together on one platform.

“Few companies bring storytelling, technology and fandom together the way Disney can,” said Kylie Watson-Wheeler, senior vice president and managing director of The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand and head of ESPN Asia-Pacific.

“That makes Disney+ an unmatched launchpad for advertisers seeking cultural impact in premium, trusted environments.”

The Upfront was also the first major Australian presentation since Disney+ launched its $9.99 Standard with Ads subscription tier in Australia and New Zealand in April.

That development made advertising technology almost as important to the presentation as the programming itself. U.S.-based Disney Advertising executives Josh Mattison and Dana McGraw travelled to Melbourne to outline the company’s global advertising operation and plans for the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Disney+ with Ads now operates in more than two dozen countries and serves more than 10,000 advertisers globally, according to the company.

“Our focus is to give advertisers richer insights, stronger tools and more meaningful ways to show up in premium streaming moments,” McGraw said.

Disney used the Upfront to preview several advertising products heading to the local market. Disney Audience Graph and Disney Select are designed to provide more detailed audience targeting, while Ad Selector allows viewers to choose the advertising creative they see before programming begins. Video+ will allow offers to be sent directly to a viewer’s phone without interrupting their viewing experience.

Director of Disney Advertising Australia and New Zealand Nik Weber said the introduction of advertising to Disney+ locally was backed by technology already operating across the company’s global business.

“The Disney+ ad tier may be new, but the technology, products and experience behind it are not,” Weber said. “That is what allows us to move at speed and give advertisers more ways to reach audiences across premium entertainment, live sport and culturally significant moments.”

In Melbourne this week, that collision of entertainment, sport and spectacle was difficult to miss. With Hollywood franchises, Australian productions, ESPN personalities, cheerleaders and the NFL all sharing the stage, Disney’s message to the industry was clear: it wants Disney+ to be the place where its previously distinct worlds of entertainment and sport increasingly meet.