On Tuesday, CBS and Nickelodeon announced that the AFC wild card game on January 10th would be carried on both networks, with Nickelodeon providing a kid-friendly version of the broadcast.
As a nice bonus, the preview show dubbed, “The SpongeBob SportsPants Countdown Special,” will be hosted by Denver Broncos star Von Miller and the famous animated sponge himself. Considering Denver’s recent struggles, it will be nice to see Miller on a playoff-football-Saturday once again, even if he won’t be playing.
The lead CBS broadcasting team of Tony Romo and Jim Nantz are also set to make an appearance on the preview show. However, the game will be called on Nickelodeon by Good Morning Football’s Nate Burleson, and Noah Eagle, son of CBS play-by-play man Ian Eagle and the radio voice of the Los Angeles Chargers.
With their broadcast, Nickelodeon is attempting to create a football viewing experience more tuned to the young viewer, and have come up with some inventive ways of doing just that.
So far, Nickelodeon has announced feature’s like the network’s trademark ‘slime’, and animated aspects will be included as a part of the broadcast. Nickelodeon’s current plan is to have the game air on a five-minute delay from the CBS broadcast, which will give Nickelodeon’s team of animators to add their touches to plays.
The NFL had a behind-the-scenes trial run for the unique broadcast during the Week 13 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles, and it reportedly went great.
“We had a live feed coming out of the Green Bay rehearsal and I was really blown away. It was so entertaining, fun and innovative,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said.
One thing is for certain, it will create a unique playoff-viewing experience.
