The goal of Nickelodeon's simulcast of the Bears-Saints Wild Card game was to "reach a younger demographic of fans," and "all in all, it appears the Nick broadcast was a success" in doing so, according to Mark Heim of the BIRMINGHAM NEWS. Yesterday's Nick presentation featured quirks like CBS’ “Young Sheldon” character who "popped up to explain rules," but the "fun really started" when Saints WR Michael Thomas scored the first touchdown of the game. Nick "celebrated with cannons spraying slime for that score and every touchdown after" (BIRMINGHAM NEWS, 1/11). In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal writes Nickelodeon "did a nice job helping educate youngsters about pro football and brighten a not-so-exciting playoff game ... as an alternative to CBS' standard coverage." Most fans "wouldn’t want it to be the only version of NFL game coverage," but it was "wonderfully goofy." Rosenthal: "This is definitely worth doing again" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/11).
BASKING IN THE FUN: ESPN.com's Tim Keown wrote the broadcast was a "hell of a lot of fun, maybe the best experience I've had watching a game this season." The "gimmick was a four-hour commercial for the network," but "every other broadcast is a four-hour commercial for the NFL, so that's a wash." Analyst Nate Burleson was a "delightful companion, good in a born-for-this way, and if the NFL has plans to continue this type of youth outreach, he should get every assignment." Yesterday's game was "Mister Rogers meets John Madden." Football-wise, the Saints' 21-9 win was a "terrible game, so it was nice to hang out in a place where nobody seemed to care." There was "very little in the way of strategic dissection." Burleson "delved into the X's and O's a little bit" at the end of the first half, but he "apologized before he did it" (ESPN.com, 1/10). Burleson during the telecast said he has been a "big fan of Nickelodeon since I was a little kid." Burleson: "Today, the first-ever NFL game on Nickelodeon, we get to talk football and have fun with a group of young fans out there in Nick Nation” (“Bears-Saints,” Nickelodeon, 1/9).
NATE BURLESON SHINES: THE ATHLETIC's Jon Greenberg wrote Nick's alternate broadcast was "about the only thing" that made Bears-Saints "enjoyable." Burleson is a "star" and play-by-play man Noah Eagle, son of CBS' Ian Eagle, a "chip off the old block." Young Nick stars Gabrielle Nevaeh Green and Lex Lumpkin were "charming and the game was very watchable, albeit with a few hiccups" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/10). WFAN-AM’s Jerry Recco said the broadcast “really did a good job of trying to explain almost everything.” WFAN’s Boomer Esiason said Burleson explained the game in “condensed little explanations." Esiason: "To do it with a smile on his face, and then to deal and bring everybody else into it, was great. I don’t necessarily know that would be something you’d see every week, but it was certainly fun watching.” WFAN’s Gregg Giannotti: “Anybody who’s complaining about it who’s a football fan, it’s not for you” (“Boomer & Gio,” CBSSN, 1/11).
DRAWING OUT THE CHILD IN ALL: NFL Network’s Kay Adams said the Nick broadcast was “probably the most fun broadcast ever” (“Good Morning Football,” NFL Network, 1/11). ESPN’s Antonietta Collins said it was “fun” and she “felt like I was 12 again watching” the game. ESPN’s David Lloyd: “It was an interesting experience, that’s for sure” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 1/11). SI.com's Conor Orr wrote having the game "stripped of all its self-importance and hubris was an absolute delight." Nickelodeon "reminded me: What if we just tuned out the noise, removed all of our attached thoughts and pretenses on what the game should be and enjoy it for what it is?" Orr: "I’m glad I stumbled back here, with all the trappings of childhood, to remember how good something in its purest and most innocent form can be" (SI.com, 1/10).
BIG PLAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: YAHOO SPORTS' Cassandra Negley noted the broadcast was a "hit on social media with its moving slime first-down line, a slime-filled red zone and an end zone dubbed the 'slime zone.'" The game "started with 'Spongebob Sportspants' and was littered with Nick references for kids and adults alike." Everything about the broadcast was "bright, colorful, cartoony and downright fun." The scorebug, which was "so iconically Nick it didn’t need the channel label at the bottom, was clear and easy to read." For the older crowd tuning in, Burleson and Eagle "did a good job of dropping in older 1990s Nickelodeon references." The announcers "tackled what they might call a 'sticky' situation and did a fabulous job of simplifying the game without talking down to viewers." Overall, it was an "enjoyably different way to watch a football game" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/10).
VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED: In N.Y., Joseph Staszewski noted Bears WR Cordarrelle Patterson was heard on the Nick feed "dropping an F-bomb in the closing seconds of the first half" after being called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. All a "stunned" Burleson "could say initially in response was, 'All right'" (N.Y. POST, 1/11). USA TODAY's Nate Davis: "I get it -- attract the youngsters' eyeballs -- but meh ... especially when you can't successfully screen out the expletives picked up by on-field microphones" (1/11).
PROUD OF THEIR EFFORT: CBS Sports' Suzanne Smith oversaw the production of the Nick feed, and she said, “It was enormously different and challenging and chaotic and fun. I thought it worked out really great. Everything was different. The audience was different. Our talent was different. We were still televising a football game but it was geared to more fun." Smith indicated that the production group "would get into 'Slime Zone' mode" when either team entered the red zone. That included using cameras that were calibrated for virtual slime "when a player went into the end zone." THE ATHLETIC's Richard Deitsch notes there was a "separate production truck onsite charged for things such as the graphics for the slime and SpongeBob icons." Additionally, a system was created "where the broadcast trucks at the game site sent game footage to Nickelodeon animators in New York City." Those animators in just minutes "were able to get plays back to what everyone called ‘Nick-ified’ and then seconds after that they appeared on the air." Smith: "I’d love to see it done again for the championship game. And, of course, the ultimate would be to do it for the Super Bowl. But it took a tremendous amount of work to get to this point. ... I don’t think it’s something that you could do every week. But from all accounts, it was an enormous success” (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/11).
