When tuning in to CBS’s Super Bowl coverage this year, you were probably expecting the usual, from some incredible plays to an entertaining halftime show. You likely weren’t expecting a crowd full of cartoon fish, commentary from a talking sponge and slime cannons going off in the endzone. These were just a few of the elements that the Nickelodeon Super Bowl broadcast had to offer.
“This broadcast shows the power of Nick and CBS coming together,” Vice President of Unscripted Nickelodeon Luke Wahl said. “Our zany sensibilities and their mastery of how to put on a football game made for the perfect partnership.”
While the partnership between the unlikely duo may come as a surprise to many, it actually has been in the works longer than you think. Viewers got their first glimpse of their potential back at the 2019 Super Bowl in Atlanta, when SpongeBob and friends introduced rapper Travis Scott at the start of the halftime show. The appearance by Nick’s beloved toon was meant as a tribute to the show’s creator Stephen Hillenburg, who had passed away the previous year.
What was meant as a touching cameo soon became more, as fans started making petitions online for the famous SpongeBob song “Sweet Victory” to be performed at the Super Bowl halftime show. This request would not go unnoticed by the creative heads at Nick. It was eventually fulfilled during this year’s Nick Super Bowl, as animators recreated the iconic sequence in 3D animation to open the broadcast.
Due to the positive feedback from fans following the 2019 Super Bowl, it was no surprise that the NFL and Nickelodeon started exploring the idea of collaborating more. In 2020, the two came to the agreement that Nick would host a playoff game telecast that would be aimed at younger viewers. Although Nickelodeon had experimented with sports-related shows in the past, such as the award show “Kids’ Choice Sports” and the animated series “NFL Rush Zone”, this telecast would prove to be a whole new challenge.
The telecast aired January 10, 2021, as Nick covered the Wild Card playoff game between the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints. The game featured everything from colorful cartoon graphics to even giving out a most valuable player award known as the “NVP.”
“Part of connecting with a younger audience is trying your best to meet them on their level,” Wahl said.
The broadcast was a success — drawing in 2 million viewers — becoming the channel’s most-watched program among total viewers in nearly four years. Besides ratings, the broadcast was praised by everyone, including former Super Bowl winning quarterback Kurt Warner, for educating kids on the rules of football while being entertaining.
With a hit on their hands, the NFL upped their partnership with Nickelodeon and gave them not only another playoff game broadcast for the 2022 season, but a Christmas Day regular season game between the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos. And once again, they struck gold. The Christmas Day telecast drew in around 900,000 viewers, making it the highest-rated Christmas Day broadcast since 2016. Nickelodeon seemed to have a winning formula as good as the one for the Krabby Patty.
Entering the 2023-2024 NFL season, the NFL once again gave Nick a Christmas Day telecast, but they were also planning for something bigger. With Nick’s continued success on their NFL telecasts and CBS owning the broadcasting rights for the Super Bowl, all parties felt it was time to tackle the biggest game of them all. Billed as “Super Bowl LVIII: Live from Bikini Bottom,” the telecast would be the first of its kind, as there had never been an alternative broadcast for the Super Bowl before.
As the team at Nick began to prepare for this new challenge, they all went in with the same goal in mind. The goal was for the telecast to surprise and delight the younger audience, but to have everyday football fans respect the production as well.
“We wanted the broadcast to stand on its own,” Wahl said. “When you strip everything away, it needs to be a well-shot, well-directed and well-produced football game.”
At the beginning of the process, everything started on Nickelodeon’s side of things. The team at Nick spent many hours brainstorming ideas that they felt may be unique and fun, from which iconic Nicktoons to include to coming up with a ton of fish-punned celebrity names. During this time they made sure to keep CBS in the loop and see if they could help them improve or expand their ideas. CBS was completely open-minded and fully embraced the partnership.
While brainstorming ideas may have been difficult at times, it was nowhere near as challenging as the technical side of the telecast. In a broadcast with so many moving parts and emerging technology, coordination was going to have to be key if they wanted to succeed.
“Without a doubt, it is the most complicated live sports broadcast that has ever existed,” Wahl said.
Leading up to the big game, Nickelodeon visited Allegiant Stadium, the site of Super Bowl LVIII, three times in order to conduct tests to make sure the augmented reality technology performed up to par. When it came to designing and producing the graphic elements featured in the broadcast, a lot of the heavy lifting was done by the animation studio Silver Spoon. Nick also had to figure out how to use live-motion capture in its telecast. While announcers Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson got to dress to impress for the broadcast, voice actors Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke were covered from head to toe in motion capture suits in order to bring SpongeBob and Patrick to life. Both voice actors were fully game, though, and given pretty much free range to improvise as much as they liked.
“We explained to them we didn’t need them to be football experts, we just needed them to go out there and be SpongeBob and Patrick,” Wahl said.
After a total seven months of brainstorming, testing, designing and producing content for the telecast, on February 11, 2024, it was finally time to put everything to the test. The telecast was everything and more you could want from a Nickelodeon sports broadcast. It included all kinds of wackiness and tomfoolery, from a giant robot on the field to a blimp covering the crowd in that signature Nickelodeon slime. The game commentary from SpongeBob and Patrick was great, too, as they found the perfect balance of explaining the action on the field to younger viewers and mixing it with silly humor. Some may even say they did a better job at calling the game than CBS announcer Tony Romo.
The feedback to Nick’s Super Bowl telecast was sensational, with many praising the broadcast for its unhinged humor and unique antics. Before the telecast was even over, clips of it were getting turned into memes and generating thousands of likes all over social media. The broadcast averaged about 1.2 million viewers and made history along with the other broadcasts as the most-watched telecast in history, with a total audience delivery of 123.4 million viewers.
“It means a lot to be able to appeal to people that grew up with the Nick stuff and as a big sports fan,” Wahl said. “For them to tune in and feel that they got what they wanted in terms of a sports broadcast, but also the joy and nostalgia of Nick is great.”
With another hit under their belt, Nickelodeon wishes to continue to develop their relationship with the NFL. Based on the general feedback of the Super Bowl broadcast, it is safe to say that the NFL is very open to this as well. Nick’s success at tackling the Super Bowl begs the question, “Will they try to take a stab at other major sporting events?”
“There is an appetite for us to look at other places where we can execute this type of thing,” Wahl said. “It’s tough because when you do the Super Bowl you’re standing on the top of the mountain, but I think there are definitely other places we can do stuff like this.”
Nick’s NFL telecasts have made headlines for their impressive graphics and wacky jokes, but the main thing they have done is present a broadcast that sports fans and their kids can enjoy together. Wahl is a prime example of this, as both he and his 7-year-old son watched the Nick Super Bowl together. These telecasts allow families to bond with each other as they offer something for both the young and old.
The broadcasts have been so successful that competing companies have even taken notice. Last year, Disney released their answer to Nick’s telecasts with “NHL Big City Greens Classic” and “Toy Story Funday Football.” Both of these broadcasts were animated versions of a NHL and NFL game that featured characters from the Disney Channel animated series “Big City Greens” and the Pixar “Toy Story” franchise. While other companies may try to replicate this winning formula, Nickelodeon will always be known for pioneering and perfecting it.
“In a world with so many streaming sites, there is the ability to host alternative broadcasts,” Wahl said. “I think alternative broadcasts for kids are here to stay.”