One of the main talking points from NFL Super Wild Card weekend was the alternate broadcast between the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints that was geared towards kids and aired on Nickelodeon.
The NFL Wild Card Game on Nickelodeon was a great success, giving Nickelodeon its biggest audience in four years, with many viewers taking to social media to say how much they were enjoying the “Nickified” game.
With the success that the alternate broadcast had, it has led to debate that maybe other sports should have a broadcast that kids can learn the game from.
Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander David Price was on Thursday’s edition of Hot Stove on MLB Network to talk about the work that The Players Alliance was doing in Phoenix.
Towards the end of the interview, Price was asked by Matt Vasgersian about the way that MLB is presented on television and whether or not the broadcasts are designed too much around analytics. Price said that maybe Major League Baseball (MLB) needs to take a page out of the NFL playbook.
“One thing I would like to see is what the NFL did last weekend with Nickelodeon. Having Nickelodeon do their broadcast and that was a broadcast I watched with my kids. I know my kids loved it when Michael Thomas scored that touchdown and got slimed. They loved all the goofy graphics with guys having big bug eyes and hearing about what players’ favorite foods are, what they used to watch on Nickelodeon…It was different than the normal broadcast, but I enjoyed that greatly.”
Vasgersian told Price that he was onto something and it was something that they have talked about as well.
Price would be the right player to ask for this question because he decided to opt out of the 2020 MLB season due to COVID-19 (coronavirus) concerns. He was able to watch more baseball and probably can pick out things that MLB can do better with the television product.
Over the years, viewers have seen ESPN and MLB Network do broadcasts that are centered around the use of Statcast. Plus, ESPN did a live show called Squeeze Play during the Wild Card round this past year where they went around to all the games. However, if one of the criticisms for MLB is that they don’t bring in the younger demographic, maybe having Nickelodeon or a kid-centered alternate broadcast of a game isn’t a bad idea for kids to get to know the players and gain more fans.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito was asked a similar question during an “Ask Me Anything” chat he had on Reddit as a fan asked him if the MLB should have a similar broadcast and would he volunteer to be slimed? Giolito was all for it, saying "I think that would be amazing and I'd absolutely be in line to get slimed. I hear it tastes like chicken".
Would you like to see MLB on Nickelodeon? And what do you think slime tastes like? Let me know in the comments or tweet me @dailynicknews!
Original source: Barrett Sports Media.
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