SUPER BOWL LXI WEEK · SANTA MONICA
ESPN Beach 2027 in Santa Monica
ESPN Beach is ESPN’s Super Bowl LXI week broadcast center on Santa Monica Beach, with a free fan activation on the Santa Monica Pier. ESPN’s announcement says most daily studio programming there begins Monday, February 8, 2027. Hours and entry details had not been announced as of October 13, 2026.
ESPN Beach does not include a Super Bowl LXI game ticket, so for a seat at SoFi Stadium on February 14, 2027, see our Super Bowl LXI game tickets.
Checked against official sources on .
AT A GLANCE · AS OF OCTOBER 13, 2026
ESPN Beach 2027 at a glance
- What it is
- ESPN’s Super Bowl LXI week broadcast center, with studio sets on Santa Monica Beach and a free fan activation on the Santa Monica Pier.
- 2027 dates
- Studio shows start Monday, Feb. 8, 2027, ESPN says, and run “throughout Super Bowl week.” No end date or daily hours announced.
- Location
- Santa Monica Beach, “alongside the historic Santa Monica Pier,” per ESPN. The fan activation is on the pier. No street address announced.
- Entry
- ESPN calls the pier fan activation free. No tickets, registration, hours or capacity had been announced.
- Game ticket included?
- No. ESPN Beach does not admit you to Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
- Organizer
- ESPN, not the NFL. Santa Monica’s City Council authorized negotiations with ESPN in December 2025.
- On TV
- Daily ESPN studio shows from the beach; Awful Announcing named Get Up, First Take and NFL Live. Super Bowl LXI airs on ESPN and ABC.
- Official information
- ESPN’s press release, announced in May 2026 (no date on the page). ESPN says more details will come closer to Super Bowl week.
ESPN gives a start date but no end date, so we don’t list a closing day. Other Super Bowl LXI week events are on our week schedule.
What is ESPN Beach?
ESPN Beach is the name ESPN gave its Santa Monica broadcast center for Super Bowl LXI week, and ESPN says it will anchor the network’s on-site presence that week. Most daily studio programming, from morning shows through primetime, will originate from multiple beachside sets “featuring ESPN’s biggest shows and most recognizable personalities,” ESPN says. The Santa Monica Sun reported that additional ABC programming will also broadcast from Santa Monica.
For fans, ESPN describes “a large-scale, free fan activation” on the Santa Monica Pier, with interactive games and immersive experiences that blend sports, storytelling and ESPN and Disney themes. The Santa Monica Sun called the pier programming family-friendly and said stretches of the surrounding beach are expected to fill with open-air events, viewing areas, food vendors and merchandise.
When and where is ESPN Beach in 2027?
ESPN Beach programming begins Monday, February 8, 2027, according to ESPN, which says its studio shows will run day after day throughout Super Bowl week. ESPN has not given an end date or daily hours. The game is on Sunday, February 14, 2027, and Awful Announcing reported that ESPN’s Super Bowl Sunday pregame coverage will originate from SoFi Stadium. ESPN hasn’t said whether the pier activation is open that day.
ESPN places the sets on Santa Monica Beach “alongside the historic Santa Monica Pier,” with the fan activation on the pier. The city manager’s newsletter, published by Santa Monica Next, says the shows will broadcast live from multiple beachside sets along Santa Monica State Beach. No street address or set map has been released. Awful Announcing put the pier at a 13.6-mile drive from SoFi Stadium; for game day, see our Super Bowl parking guide.
Is ESPN Beach free, and do you need a ticket?
The pier fan activation is free, ESPN says, and the city manager’s newsletter adds that it will be free and open to the public. ESPN also describes “free, open-air activities” along the beachfront. As of October 13, 2026, no tickets, registration, hours, capacity or age rules had been announced, and ESPN says details of these beach-wide experiences “will be announced closer to Super Bowl week.”
ESPN Beach is ESPN’s event, not the NFL’s Super Bowl Experience, and it is not a way into the game. Since ESPN describes the pier activation as free, be wary of anyone selling access to it. StubOrder has no ESPN Beach page.
Which ESPN shows will broadcast from ESPN Beach?
ESPN’s release doesn’t name the programs. Awful Announcing reported that daily shows like Get Up, First Take and NFL Live will broadcast from the Santa Monica beach during the week. Those names come from that report, not from ESPN, so check ESPN’s schedules closer to February.
Super Bowl LXI itself airs on ESPN and ABC, and ESPN says it will be the network’s first production of the Super Bowl. Its Southern California presence that week also includes Disneyland Resort, according to the release. ESPN has not said whether fans can watch the beachside shows in person.
Did Santa Monica approve ESPN Beach?
Yes. In December 2025, the Santa Monica City Council authorized City Manager Oliver Chi to enter exclusive negotiations for “an ESPN fan festival and broadcast presence in February 2027 timed to the Super Bowl,” on the pier and adjacent beachfront, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported. The city announced its partnership with ESPN in May 2026, according to the city manager’s newsletter.
The city said none of the major events in that approval, ESPN’s included, would receive public subsidies, and the Westside Current reported that private organizers would be required to pay fees tied to property rental. The Santa Monica Sun said more details, including potential impacts on beach access, traffic and local businesses, were expected closer to the event. As of October 13, 2026, we found no ESPN Beach news after May 2026.
ESPN Beach timeline and ESPN’s 2016 Super Bowl set
2027 is the first edition under the ESPN Beach name that we found, so this table tracks how it came together, plus the on-site set ESPN ran for Super Bowl 50.
| Year | Milestone | Location | Dates | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | ESPN Beach, Super Bowl LXI week | Santa Monica Beach; fan activation on the pier | Studio shows begin Mon., Feb. 8, 2027 | Pier activation free, per ESPN |
| 2026 | ESPN announces ESPN Beach | Santa Monica | May 2026 | Details promised closer to Super Bowl week |
| 2025 | City Council authorizes negotiations with ESPN | Santa Monica Pier and adjacent beachfront | December 2025 | City says no public subsidies |
| 2016 | Super Bowl 50 headquarters (not called ESPN Beach) | Marina Green, San Francisco | Feb. 3–7, 2016 | All shows open for public viewing, per Barrett Media |
In 2016, ESPN’s Marina Green set carried live daily editions of SportsCenter, NFL Insiders and NFL Live. That is history, not a guide to how ESPN Beach will run in 2027.
What is ESPN Beach?
It is ESPN’s home base for Super Bowl LXI week: a broadcast center with several studio sets on Santa Monica Beach, plus a free fan activation on the Santa Monica Pier. ESPN runs it; the NFL does not.
When does ESPN Beach start?
Monday, February 8, 2027, per ESPN, whose daily studio programming there starts that day and continues through Super Bowl week. No closing date or daily schedule had been released by October 13, 2026.
Is ESPN Beach free?
Yes for the pier: ESPN says its Santa Monica Pier fan activation is free, and it promises free, open-air activities along the beachfront too. It hasn’t released hours, registration or capacity details.
Where exactly is ESPN Beach?
On Santa Monica Beach next to the Santa Monica Pier, with the fan activation on the pier. ESPN hasn’t published a street address or a map of the sets.
Is ESPN Beach part of the NFL’s Super Bowl Experience?
No. They are separate events: ESPN runs ESPN Beach, while the Super Bowl Experience is the NFL’s fan festival. Neither one admits you to Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
Can you watch ESPN shows being filmed at ESPN Beach?
ESPN hasn’t said. As a past example only, Barrett Media reported in January 2016 that all of ESPN’s Super Bowl 50 shows at Marina Green in San Francisco would be open for public viewing.
Will ESPN’s Super Bowl Sunday pregame show air from ESPN Beach?
No, according to Awful Announcing, which reported that ESPN’s Super Bowl Sunday pregame coverage will originate from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. ESPN says the beach sets will carry most of its daily studio programming during the week.
How far is ESPN Beach from SoFi Stadium?
It is a 13.6-mile drive from the Santa Monica Pier to SoFi Stadium, Awful Announcing reported. ESPN Beach is in Santa Monica, and the game is in Inglewood.
Who is broadcasting Super Bowl LXI?
ESPN and ABC. ESPN says the February 14, 2027, game will be the first Super Bowl it has produced.
Is there an ESPN The Party in 2027?
No 2027 edition has been announced. ESPN The Party was a separate, invitation-only ESPN party during Super Bowl week, and the latest one we found was in Houston in February 2017. Our parties guide covers Super Bowl LXI week parties.
Sources
We checked these sources on October 13, 2026.
- ESPN Press Room: ESPN Beach and Super Bowl LXI week release: No date shown on the page (announced May 2026): the ESPN Beach name, beach location by the pier, studio programming from Monday, Feb. 8, the free pier fan activation, ESPN and ABC broadcast, Disneyland Resort and details to come.
- Santa Monica Next: city manager’s newsletter item on ESPN: May 20, 2026, item from the city manager’s newsletter: beachside sets on Santa Monica State Beach, a free pier activation open to the public and the city’s May 2026 announcement.
- Santa Monica Sun: report on ESPN’s Super Bowl week plans: May 13, 2026: pier games and exhibits, family-friendly programming, beach events and vendors, ABC programming and open questions on access and traffic.
- Awful Announcing (via Yahoo Sports): report on ESPN Beach: May 13, 2026: Get Up, First Take and NFL Live from the beach, Sunday pregame from SoFi Stadium and the 13.6-mile drive.
- Santa Monica Daily Press: council approves major-event partnerships: December 18, 2025: City Council authorizes exclusive negotiations for an ESPN fan festival and broadcast presence in February 2027; no public subsidies.
- Westside Current: report on the free ESPN pier fan experience: May 15, 2026: private organizers pay fees tied to property rental.
- Barrett Media: ESPN’s Super Bowl 50 plans (2016): January 21, 2016: Marina Green production headquarters, Feb. 3–7 shows open for public viewing, and the invitation-only ESPN The Party.
- Click2Houston: ESPN The Party in Houston (2017): February 3, 2017: the 2017 ESPN The Party in Houston, the latest edition we found.