As part of the NFL's agreement with CBS, CBS will broadcast a Wild Card game on January 10. The game will also be available via a livestream on CBS All Access. As part of CBS’ coverage, a separately produced telecast of the game will air on Nickelodeon, tailored for a younger audience - a first for the NFL.
There have been some concerns within the NFL in recent years that young kids aren’t as into football as kids were a generation or two ago. It’s clear that putting a game on Nickelodeon, and gearing the broadcast toward younger viewers, is an effort to change that.
What’s unknown is how a Nickelodeon-produced game will differ from a typical NFL game. Viewers probably won't be seeing green slime dumped on the referee if he misses a call, but viewers might see a younger team of broadcasters, and a brighter presentation package.
The news follows former Uconn coach Bob Diaco suggesting Nickelodeon airing NFL games to bring the sport to younger audiences.
“I got all kinds of ideas on networks. Let’s target 6-year-olds to 16-year-olds, how about that? Eventually they’re going to be 18-35,” Diaco said in the midst of a 10-minute monologue. “Let’s broadcast our games on Nickelodeon. Who owns that, Viacom? Let’s create some real intrigue.”
Below is NFL's official press release announcing the news:
NFL CLUBS APPROVE EXPANSION OF POSTSEASON
14 TEAMS TO QUALIFY FOR PLAYOFFS BEGINNING WITH 2020 SEASON –
ONE ADDITIONAL WILD CARD TEAM ADDED IN EACH CONFERENCE
CBS, NBC TO BROADCAST ADDITIONAL WILD CARD GAME
NFL clubs voted today to expand the postseason by two teams beginning with the 2020 season.
Expanding the NFL postseason was addressed in the new NFL-NFLPA Collective BargainingAgreement. Players and clubs both recognized that nothing energizes fans like the chance to see their team qualify for the playoffs and compete for the Super Bowl.
Today’s vote during a league meeting held remotely follows the recommendation of the Competition Committee, Management Council Executive Committee and Media Committee on increasing the number of playoff teams from 12 to 14.
Two additional Wild Card teams – one each in the American and National Football Conferences – will qualify for the playoffs. The No. 1 seed in each conference will receive a bye in the Wild Card round. The remaining division champions in each conference with the best records will be seeded 2, 3, and 4, followed by the next three teams per conference with the best records seeded 5, 6, and 7.
AFC and NFC Wild Card games will feature the 2 seed hosting the 7 seed, the 3 seed hosting the 6 seed and the 4 seed hosting the 5 seed.
Wild Card Weekend for the 2020 season will consist of three games on Saturday, January 9, and three games on Sunday, January 10, 2021.
CBS will broadcast one additional Wild Card game on January 10 with kickoff at approximately 4:40 p.m. ET. The game will also be available via a livestream on CBS All Access. Additionally, as part of CBS’ coverage, a separately produced telecast of the game will air on Nickelodeon, tailored for a younger audience.
NBC, its new streaming service Peacock, as well as Telemundo will all broadcast an additional Wild Card game on January 10 with kickoff at approximately 8:15 p.m. ET.
The NFL last expanded the playoffs for the 1990 season, increasing from 10 to 12 the number of teams to qualify for the postseason. Since 1990, at least four new teams have qualified for the playoffs that missed the postseason the year before – a streak of 30 consecutive seasons.
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From Yahoo! Sports:
Nickelodeon will air NFL wild-card game in specially produced broadcast
Get your SpongeBob SquarePants memes ready next January, because playoff football is coming to Nickelodeon.
NFL team owners voted to expand the playoff format from 12 to 14 teams on Tuesday. This will create two additional wild-card playoff games per year, which the team owners voted to broadcast on two of its regular broadcast partners, NBC and CBS.
Both games, however, also will be aired on different platforms. NBC will air its extra game — which will be broadcast at 8:15 p.m. ET on Jan. 10 — on Peacock, its new streaming service, and Spanish-language network Telemundo. CBS will show its game on Nickelodeon, the popular children’s cable station, via a separately produced telecast.
The Nickelodeon game, which will be broadcast at 4:40 p.m. ET on Jan. 10, will be tailored for a younger audience.
“The youth demographic is very important — there are plenty of young fans, and we want to continue to bring the game to the young fans,” NFL executive vice president Brian Rolapp told reporters on a conference call Tuesday. “This was an idea that CBS had in order to do that was to create a special production for them, but I think it’s very similar to NBC thinking, ‘How do we actually create a separate telecast to reach the Hispanic fan base?’ And that was on Telemundo.”
Rolapp said the NFL is always asking itself how to reach as many viewers as possible.
Nickelodeon has been a staple in American homes since 1977, and continues to resonate with multiple generations of Americans.
Those hoping to hear that the network will find a way to weave its assortment of classic television shows — ranging from the aforementioned SpongeBob to “Double Dare” to “Legends of the Hidden Temple” — into the playoff broadcast will have to wait a little longer for details.
“What we expect it to be like, we’re not sure yet,” Rolapp said. “There’s a lot of planning and work that will go into that, and CBS Viacom will be hard at work at that.”
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From Broadcasting & Cable:
CBS, NBC Get Extra Wildcard Game as NFL Playoffs Expand
Nickelodeon to air telecast produced for younger viewers
CBS and NBC have each gotten an additional playoff game as the NFL approved plans to expand the playoffs beginning at the end of the 2020 season, assuming the Coronavirus crisis is under control.
Peacock will stream NBC's new NFL Wild Card playoff game.
Peacock will stream NBC's new NFL Wild Card playoff game.
Dylan Buell/Getty Images
The Wildcard game that airs on CBS will also be seen on Nickelodeon with a separate telecast aimed at younger viewers. CBS and Nickelodeon are both owned by ViacomCBS.
NBCU’s new streaming service Peacock and Telemundo will also carry the NBC Wildcard game.
Financial terms were not disclosed. Sports Business Daily reported that CBS will pay about $70 million for its afternoon game and NBC will pay a bit more for its prime time contest.
Under the new NFL plan 14 teams will qualify for the playoffs, with one wild card team added in each conference.
As a result, Wild Card Weekend for the 2020 season will consist of three games on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021, and three games on Sunday, January 10.
CBS will air its additional game on Jan 10, with kick off at about 4:40 p.m. ET. The game will also stream on CBS All Access. Nickelodeon’s coverage will also appear.
NBC, Peacock and Telemundo will air the second added Wild Card Game on Jan 10 at 8:15 p.m. E.T.
The NFL last expanded its playoffs during the 1990 season.
The expansion came after the NFL and the NFL Players Association approved a new collective bargaining agreement. “Players and clubs both recognized that nothing energizes fans like the chance to see their team qualify for the playoffs and compete for the Super Bowl,” the league said in a statement.
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More Nick: Nickelodeon Upfront 2020 Roundup!
Originally published: Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 19:29 BST.
H/T: Twitter /@BenVolin, @MichaelDavSmith; Additional sources: ProFootball Talk / NBC Sports (II), The Hollywood Reporter.
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