The 2025 NFL playoffs are starting Saturday, and the primary recreation will function one of many league’s comparatively new traditions.
It is not simply in regards to the Houston Texans enjoying within the opening recreation of wild-card weekend, which has occurred ceaselessly all through the franchise’s historical past. The primary contest of the NFL postseason can even be broadcast on Nickelodeon.
Nickelodeon – a sister community of CBS with programming designed for kids and adolescents – has broadcast an NFL recreation yearly since 2021. CBS Sports activities chairman Sean McManus had approached the league with the thought as a technique to market soccer to a youthful viewers whereas instructing them about key ideas of the sport.
The primary Nickelodeon simulcast – the 2021 wild-card playoff recreation between the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears – was a rousing success. That led the community to proceed broadcasting one recreation per yr whereas including a weekly present referred to as “NFL Slimetime” to its programming catalog.
Nickelodeon has typically included its most iconic traditions into its NFL broadcasts. This included superimposed slime on the sphere, appearances from its most notable stars and commentary from the networks most recognizable characters, SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star.
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Here is what to know in regards to the NFL on Nickelodeon’s historical past and easy methods to watch the alternate broadcast to start out the 2025 playoffs.
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Nickelodeon’s NFL broadcast for the 2025 playoffs would be the first recreation of the postseason. The AFC South-winning Texans are internet hosting the convention’s prime wild-card workforce, the Chargers, in a battle to advance to the divisional spherical.
Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers, who completed the 2024 NFL season with an 11-6 document, are slight favorites over the house workforce Texans, who logged a 10-7 document to win the AFC South for a second consecutive season.
The Texans vs. Chargers recreation will start at 4:30 p.m. ET. There will likely be no further pregame protection of the competition on Nickelodeon, because the film “Trolls” will likely be proven on the community within the lead-up to the playoff recreation.
CBS’ pregame protection of the occasion will start at 3:30 p.m. ET with its broadcast of “The NFL At this time.”
NFL followers can catch the Texans vs. Chargers recreation with a subscription to Paramount+, which is CBS and Nickelodeon’s streaming service. Twine-cutters also can catch the motion with a subscription to Fubo, which is providing a free trial.
Nate Burleson goes to be main the NFL on Nickelodeon broadcast, as he has for the reason that inception of this system.
Nonetheless, he will not be paired with a conventional announcer group. As an alternative, he’ll broadcast the sport alongside Tom Kenny and Invoice Fagerbakke, who voice SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star respectively. The 2 will carry out as the long-lasting characters as a part of the printed and will likely be proven as animated variations of them. Burleson can even be animated, however as himself.
The printed can have two reporters on the sideline: NFL Slimetime’s Dylan Schefter (daughter of ESPN’s Adam Schefter) and SpongeBob SquarePants character Sandy Cheeks, voiced by Carolyn Lawrence.
Guidelines and penalties will likely be defined by Dora The Explorer (voiced by Diana Zermeño).
Nickelodeon’s wild-card broadcast of the Texans vs. Chargers recreation would be the community’s sixth NFL recreation since 2021. The video games have solely been broadcast in the course of the postseason or on Christmas Day throughout this system’s historical past. It additionally broadcast Tremendous Bowl 58, which was aired by its sister community CBS.
Here is a take a look at the video games Nickelodeon has broadcast:
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The NFL playoffs kick off on Jan. 11 with the league’s Tremendous Wild Card Weekend earlier than concluding on Feb. 9 with Tremendous Bowl 59 in New Orleans.
All instances Jap
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