ABC has selected its hit crime drama High Potential to follow Super Bowl LXI, securing the coveted television slot on Sunday, February 14, 2027. The network will air a special episode immediately after the championship game, positioning the series to reach the massive audience that typically tunes into the annual sports event.
The network officially revealed these broadcasting plans via a promotional spot featuring series star Kaitlin Olson during a Monday Night Football telecast on October 12. The announcement also marks the first official promotional look at the show’s upcoming third season.
Strategic Placement for Season 3
While the post-Super Bowl broadcast serves as a major promotional push, it will not function as the official Season 3 premiere. High Potential is scheduled to kick off its third season in early 2027 as part of ABC’s midseason lineup, with regular episodes airing on Tuesday nights before streaming the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
The strategic Valentine’s Day placement highlights the network’s confidence in the series. Broadcasters traditionally reserve the post-Super Bowl slot for their highest-rated or most anticipated programs. The last scripted series to air in the coveted post-game window was CBS’s Tracker in 2024, which drew 18.44 million viewers.
Impressive Ratings and Multiplatform Reach
The decision to feature High Potential behind Super Bowl LXI stems from its dominant performance during the 2025-2026 broadcast season. According to ABC metrics, the series finished as the No. 1 show among adults aged 18 to 49, which is the key demographic for advertisers, pulling in a 3.35 rating.
Additionally, the show averaged 16 million cross-platform viewers over 35 days across ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+, and digital platforms. This performance ranked it third among all network shows excluding live sports.
Cast and Production Team
Created in the U.S. by Drew Goddard and based on the popular French series Haut Potentiel Intellectuel (HPI), High Potential follows Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson). She is a single mom with an exceptional mind whose unique knack for solving crimes leads to an unconventional consulting partnership with the LAPD.
The ensemble cast includes:
- Kaitlin Olson as Morgan Gillory
- Daniel Sunjata as Karadec
- Javicia Leslie as Daphne
- Deniz Akdeniz as Lev “Oz” Ozdil
- Amirah J as Ava
- Matthew Lamb as Elliot
- Judy Reyes as Selena
For Season 3, Nora and Lilla Zuckerman serve as showrunners and executive producers alongside Drew Goddard, Sarah Esberg of Goddard Textiles, and Kaitlin Olson. Andrea Massaro of Goddard Textiles acts as co-executive producer, with 20th Television producing the series.
Historic Super Bowl Broadcast for ABC
Super Bowl LXI marks the first time ABC has broadcast the championship game since 2006, when the network aired an episode of Grey’s Anatomy behind Super Bowl XL. Alongside simultaneous streaming on Disney+, the Walt Disney Company is mounting a year-long promotional campaign across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, and Univision.
As Disney utilizes Super Bowl Sunday to launch multiple major properties-including Hulu’s upcoming football drama The Land-fans of High Potential can look forward to a high-stakes television event when Season 3 reaches the gridiron in February 2027.
