The NFL’s relationship with Nickelodeon continues for a seventh year this week, as the youth channel plans to produce shows from Houston during Super Bowl week.
The partnership between the two sheds a light on the NFL’s strategy to attract younger and more casual fans. This year, Nickelodeon will set up on Radio Row and telecast a 60-minute special on the day of the game that it will simulcast across three networks.
“The league wants to reach our coveted kids and family viewers,” said Keith Dawkins, executive vice president of TeenNick and Nicktoons.
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Nickelodeon’s Radio Row setup will be only part of its sports focus.
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Nickelodeon’s Super Bowl week activities build up to “Superstar Slime Showdown at Super Bowl” — a 60-minute competition to be simulcast across Nickelodeon, Nicktoons and Teen Nick at noon on Super Bowl Sunday. The show features Nickelodeon stars and NFL athletes competing in NFL challenges amid Nickelodeon slime. Nick Cannon hosts. The Ebersol Lanigan Co. produces the show, which will be taped from the NFL Experience.
As in past years, Nickelodeon will devote much of its Super Bowl-week programming to sports. Starting Feb. 1, two of the network’s on-air stars, Kel Mitchell and Breanna Yde, will produce daily reports from Houston.
The network also plans to turn its schedule over to sports from Friday to Sunday, when it runs sports shows like “All in with Cam Newton,” “Dude Perfect,” “Jagger Eaton’s Mega Life” and “Crashletes.”
“For us, the Super Bowl allows us to connect with our audience in a way that they want be connected to,” Dawkins said. “This is the biggest event in sports. We want to bring Nickelodeon into that space.”
It’s important to Nickelodeon executives to have a presence in Houston. The network will construct a booth on Radio Row that will feature network characters such as SpongeBob.
Nickelodeon’s first NFL deal was in 2010, when it produced “NFL Rush Zone.”
Over the past several years, Nickelodeon has made a push to get into the sports scene. In addition to the NFL, Nickelodeon has deals with NASCAR, the NBA and Minor League Baseball, Dawkins said.
“Our research shows that sports is a passion point for our audience,” Dawkins said.
