ABC Slots 'High Potential' After Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027

ABC will air an episode of the Kaitlin Olson drama "High Potential" immediately after Super Bowl LXI on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2027, the network announced Monday night during "Monday Night Football." The broadcast will also stream on Disney+.

It's the first Super Bowl ABC has carried since 2006, when the network ran an episode of "Grey's Anatomy" behind Super Bowl XL. Before that, in 2003, it placed "Alias" after Super Bowl XXXVII.

The post-game slot is the most valuable real estate in American television. Whatever follows the game inherits an audience of well over 100 million viewers, at least for its first minutes. Networks use it to launch shows or reward their biggest performers.

What does the slot change for 'High Potential'?

Plenty. "High Potential" ended the 2025-2026 broadcast season as the No. 1 show among adults 18-49, according to ABC, posting a 3.35 rating after 35 days of viewing across ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms. It averaged 16.01 million viewers on the same multiplatform, 35-day measure.

A Super Bowl lead-out could push those numbers sharply higher. The last scripted show to air after the game, CBS's series premiere of "Tracker" in 2024, drew 18.44 million viewers after Super Bowl LVIII.

The mechanism is simple: casual viewers who keep watching after the final whistle sample the show, and a fraction of them stays. That's how "The Wonder Years" got its start behind Super Bowl XXII in 1988, still the slot's most successful launch.

Disney is doubling down on Super Bowl Sunday

ABC isn't acting alone. As Variety previously reported, Hulu plans to launch the new Dan Fogelman-produced football drama "The Land" on Super Bowl Sunday as well. Disney, which owns both outlets, is treating the game as a company-wide promotional platform rather than a single-network event.

The show and the people behind it

"High Potential" stars Kaitlin Olson as Morgan, Daniel Sunjata as Karadec, Javicia Leslie as Daphne, Deniz Akdeniz as Lev "Oz" Ozdil, Amirah J as Ava, Matthew Lamb as Elliot and Judy Reyes as Selena.

The series comes from 20th Television and is based on the French series "Haut Potentiel Intellectuel (HPI)." Drew Goddard created the U.S. version. Goddard and Sarah Esberg of Goddard Textiles, Nora and Lilla Zuckerman and Kaitlin Olson serve as executive producers, with Andrea Massaro of Goddard Textiles as co-executive producer.

Season 3 will return on Tuesday nights in early 2027, streaming the next day on Hulu. The Super Bowl episode lands as a one-off amplifier before that run begins.

A checkered history for ABC's lead-outs

ABC's track record with the slot is mixed. The network used it in 1995 to launch "Extreme," a James Brolin adventure drama canceled after seven episodes. It ran the comedy pilot "Davis Rules" in 1991 and an episode of "The Practice" after Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.

Recent rivals have hedged differently. NBC skipped a scripted lead-out last year, staying with Winter Olympics coverage, as it also did in 2022. Fox ran the game show "The Floor" after Super Bowl LIX in 2025.

With "High Potential" already a proven ratings winner, ABC's bet is less a gamble than a reward — and a chance to turn its top-rated drama into a broader franchise when the game ends on Feb. 14, 2027.