NFL on Nickelodeon: "Chicago Bears Vs. New Orleans Saints" - Nick Knacks Sample Platter

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For many years, Nickelodeon just didn't know how to incorporate sports into the channel. Then, someone had the brilliant idea: why not just air a football game? We take a look at Nick's first attempt at broadcasting the NFL ahead of their airing of the Superbowl this Sunday.
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[@Scarybug]

Anyone out there looking to make a Nickelodeon trivia night, a question about the first F Bomb to air on Nickelodeon would probably stump a lot of people

[@SaskRider2]

Yeah. There'd probably be a lot of guesses for a certain year of the Kids Choice Awards.

[@BokBarber]

The act that this even exists is surreal.

[@christianlech1084]

Funnily enough, DirecTV just currently happens to be having issues with CBS in at least some places but Nick is part of even the basic DirecTV package. Thus, the Nick broadcast had the potential to score big in the ratings and maybe, just maybe, ourank All Growed Up's 11+ million viewer premiere as the most watched Nickelodeon premiere broadcast of all time.

[@niccage6375]

I wouldve hated this as a kid. Dealing with the nfl on fox interrupted the simpsons annoyed me, and having sports playing on my cartoon channel would piss me off even more

[@Scarybug]

Ha same. I keep thinking about how mad I was when football interrupted The Simpsons as a kid whenever football fans complain about occasionally seeing Taylor Swift in the stands during a game.

[@Tirgo69]

I never got into sports as a kid because they never explained what was going on, honestly if they had been doing this in 2001 and explaining the rules to me while showing funny colors maybe I would have taken interest. I think for anyone who already likes football (including kids) they probably won't care, but as a broadcast to introduce kids to the game it actually seems pretty solid. (And of course CBS profits if more kids are into CBS Sports broadcasts like NFL)

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

Same, although if it had been hockey or soccer, I think that could have at least grabbed my attention for a few minutes.

[@Peter-bx7ip]

This hurt me as a child too 😂 aaaand since they were reruns, no one gave a darn about Simpsons getting interrupted but us. I think some Sunday first run episodes got knocked off too? Idr

[@sottosopravoce]

​@@Peter-bx7ipMy sister & I are STILL salty about a time a game took over the whole show in overtime

[@bradleygiven5193]

Charming is the perfect word for this.

[@SpongeyTheEditor]

NFL Rush Zone was truly peak fiction

[@christopherwall2121]

My favorite part was how every time a player showed up, they'd have a narrator tell the kids at home who the hell this guy was, then show a few clips of them in action and make you wish you were watching that instead.

[@fsaenz0125]

As someone who has little interest in sports, I was unsure about the idea of broadcasting football on Nick but I tuned in on purpose of a sports broadcast for the first time ever and I ended up enjoying it. Nick in the past 5 years had a few ideas that make you question them until they end up being better than they expected. This was the most successful of the bunch because it benefits their dying ratings. And personally I think they should cover more sports but sadly they have only cover golf once and that was it

[@BlueSpiceSpace]

Fun fact nate burleson broke his arm in a car crash because he tried to stop a pizza from falling off the car seat. Go lions

[@Kartoonkid95]

Was SpongeBob driving?

[@Tirgo69]

Okay, Young Sheldon comparing a false start penalty to his dad scarfing down food before mom says grace got me

[@twilightman2816]

You should have heard what Dora The Explorer said the day after you posted this during the Super Bowl. It was midway through the second quarter. The score was 3 - 0. They asked Dora what she thought about the game so far. Dora: OK. Who needs a map to find the endzone??????? kzbin.info/www/bejne/faOwiWhvZtyNgbM Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!

[@SketchBud]

It's nice to see that some people are optimistic about these recent Nick/NFL crossover events. Most of them are unfairly cynical. Nevertheless, it shows that Nick is trying new things for their channel.

[@AJ-xc4qe]

They HAVE to do something new because the only other thing they "have" (translation: care about) are their cashgrab shows. SpongeBob, The Loud House, the expanding spinoffs of both shows, Monster High, Transformers, Big Nate, Star Trek, Young Dylan (thanks, Tyler Perry!), the Rugrats reboot, Danger Force (which just got cancelled but they still apply), The Smurfs and That Girl Lay Lay. Basically, if you're not a cash grab, then good luck. RIP to all the shows I watched that weren't cash grabs: Side Hustle, The Astronauts, The Barbarian and The Troll, Warped!, I Am Frankie and Drama Club. I'm praying they all get their Sample Platters in the future.

[@darktetsuya]

I forgot they started doing that! I do love the idea of making the broadcast more fun (and explaining it to the kids who might not understand all the ins and outs of football) for the kids watching, so props to them for that! would love to see the concept turned into a game, been missing that sorta thing since NFL blitz back in the late 90s/early 2000s, but I bet something like that as a game would be fun.

[@poseidonson13]

I've never watched one of these broadcasts, but I am eternally grateful for their existence because during last season's Rams vs Broncos Christmas game, they had Patrick Starrr himself roast Russel Wilson so hard that the Broncos fired their head coach immediately afterwards.

[@coreylineberry8557]

Helps that Patrick Star's VA was actually a lineman for University of Idaho.

[@chelmrtz]

I grew up loving sports in the 80s and following the major North American pro leagues, but there was never a kid-focused lens for this stuff. Like Greg said in the video, if I’d had this while growing up I would have been over the moon. I LOVE THIS VIDEO SO MUCH! My face was like this the whole time I watched it 😍🤩🥰😁 They should slime the winners of the Super Bowl this year. Fill a Gatorade bucket with the stuff and dump it on em.

[@Saintnick90]

I remember watching part of this when it aired (Probably flipping back and forth between it and the CBS telecast of the same game), and while I can't say it did much for me as an adult, I definitely would have enjoyed it as a kid. I mean, I was still able to follow regular football telecasts OK, but this would have given it an added dimension for me. I'm surprised Nickelodeon didn't take advantage of this sooner. And I suppose it's only fitting that the NFL would have to adapt and move beyond just the major networks or sports-specialized cable channels. After all, the NFL only became the juggernaut it is today through television. The two basically go hand in hand.

[@SparkzEnt]

I thought it was really fun, even as an adult... Definitely keeps your attention....

[@MikeKobela]

It's fascinating to see kids broadcasts be on the rise. Formula One has also started something similar with F1 Kids, where they air the races live with unique graphics, and there are also kids co-commentators, and sometimes even reporters on the pitlane. And what makes that one more fascinating is that you know the kids there are already big fans of the sport, so they know what they are talking about, while the adults are still there to explain the rules and such. Much like the NFL Nick games, it does a great job at making the sport more presentable for the kids, and since they have a confident young crew, I feel it also makes them more welcoming for younger viewers, like "wow they know their stuff, I can trust them."

[@DigiRangerScott]

3:15 Ahhhhh pandemic relics

[@BiggyWiggy-t3l]

Hooray! Kids love Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy!

[@DigeeTheGenie]

I mean. Yes?

[@Sixfortyfive]

The NFL on Nickelodeon is honestly held in pretty high regard by a good chunk of football fans for no other reason than the absolutely savage roasting of Russell Wilson by Patrick Star on Christmas 2022. Once Spongebob's pal is twisting your catchphrases in order to clown on your performance so badly that it gets your head coach fired the next day, you can just pack it up. I don't think I've laughed harder at any other sports broadcast.

[@simonmittelstadt6680]

It's strange but holy f****** shit when you think about it, especially because something like this is a technical masterpiece to present live animation if a live broadcast were running at the same time. American football in particular is really trying to bring in new blood again, and of course that makes sense, if you want a sport to be popular then it should also be popular with younger people. especially because I notice that they are really trying to push through Europe, including the younger ones. I mean, I'm from Germany and American football isn't really a thing here, but it's growing and growing, and Super RTL/toggo (a local children's channel) has a show called Touchdown, which also tries to present the world of American football to children . I want that for a pretty cool thing to show both children something like that, to give them a certain enthusiasm for sports. precisely because it is complicated because in my opinion American football requires a lot of equipment. I mean the reason why "European" football is so spread out all over the place is precisely because you just need a ball, with American football if you want to play it properly you need, well, protective equipment. At least that's my perspective from a Central European.

[@ChrisG667]

Way to fall upwards into the NVP, Mitch.

[@GoingRampant]

Looks really cute. I agree that if I had been a kid getting to watch that, it might have gotten me into football. Who knows?

[@deathcrist2000]

I saw Rush Zone on syndication as a kid. And yet, I never knew what it was called and only saw brief clips between channel surfing.

[@TheBronyBraeburn]

I think it says something that as an avid video game player in the 90s, I could easily pick up and play most sport video games without understanding all the intricacies of the sport, except for football. As an adult, football is the sport I like the least. If these Nick branded football games were around when I was young, maybe I'd at least better appreciate the sport today.

[@Showsni]

Hard agree there. I picked up an American football game for my SNES at a car boot sale or something, and it just baffled me. A few of the training modes were the only parts that made any sense; I pretty quickly traded it in for a tennis game.

[@qwertzy121212]

picked up a football game on n64 for 2 dollars last year... totally incomprehensible, like something from another dimension

[@TigerNightmare]

I learned the basics of football by playing Madden, the original SNES release in 1991. There wasn't a tutorial so much as it showed you what you needed to do at any given time, and the manual said what each button did. These days, football is the only sport I watch.

[@LARKXHIN]

My father finds these endlessly entertaining.

[@morbidsearch]

There was also a show on Nickelodeon UK called Renford Rejects about a bunch of schoolkids starting a soccer team for the kids who got rejected from the school team. It was very low budget but that was part of the charm. It briefly aired on Nick GAS in the USA but never on the main channel. Poparena said in another video that he gave permission if someone wanted to do Nick Knacks Australia, so I assume Nick Knacks UK is fair game too.

[@simplyjuannie5128]

I remember when they would air marathons of Doug/Rugrats during super bowl time so that kids had something good to look at.

[@spews1973]

Happy Superb Owl Sunday to all you Yankee Doodle Dandies.

[@jonathanstern5537]

Ironically, the plastic helmets, much like the thick boxing gloves, were meant to make the sports safer, ended up making them more dangerous.

[@Moonbeam143]

The NFL has Nickelodeon, and Taylor Swift! Nice!

[@bluebaron6858]

Football on Nick?!

[@MSP10julia]

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL AND SOME SLIME!! 🏈

[@christopherwall2121]

I think it would go something like this...

[@edatthegovernance]

It's more likely than you think.

[@bakomusha]

I agree that had something like this air when I was a kid I might have been more a sports kid. Well, more a Football/Basketball/Baseball kid anyway, was a huge soccer kid.

[@daelen.cclark]

At least you lived long enough to see 2021.

[@jamesmoss3424]

Football on Nickelodeon is excellent. 😀👍🏈

[@vgtrp]

NFL on Nickelodeon does have a some charm, however it does annoy me that they have to explain every little thing at every game they broadcast. I know I’m not the target audience, but if kids have been watching it from the beginning, they probably already know all the rules, but then again there are kids watching it for the 1st time, so maybe they do need the rules explained to them. Anyway, I might check out the Nickelodeon version of the Super Bowl.

[@jaggerguth4391]

So is this Nickelodeon's take on the Big Game from cartoon network?

[@DigiRangerScott]

PACKERS WIN THE SUPER BOWL!

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

Either that or some giant spiders have invaded

[@packerchu]

@@CinnamonGrrlErin1 in Wisconsin Rapids?

[@ptrgiese]

@@CinnamonGrrlErin1 Or even jellyfishes flying in, cheering out "PACKERS! PACKERS!"

[@estherastudillo8647]

Go Cheeseheads!

[@only257]

😊good

[@ptrgiese]

The only worst thing out of this was that the slime graphics ruined the fun that was football. That, and the Bears lost that game. It was completely BS, if you ask me. And it made me turn away from Nickelodeon, altogether. (but I still watch a few Nick Shows on occasion, since).

[@packerchu]

I grew up on NFL Films as the Saturday morning entertainment. This series smacks of pandering. Considering referees make up calls as the game goes on, why should kids have to memorize the exact rules? Wouldn’t even earn a discount on gear.

[@packerchu]

Reminds me of when Fox used an after effect to cause the puck to “glow” when NHL players shot the puck. Aren’t there enough distractions during professional sports? If you have to resort to gimmicks, you have to accept that the product has limited appeal and you might be attempting to woo an audience with a more limited attention span than your research led you to believe, and that doesn’t even factor in if a favorite team is losing and unlikely to make a comeback.

[@mightyfilm]

UGH. NFL Rush Zone was the most pathetic attempt to get kids into football in a who is this for sort of way. Just the worst of the worst action show cliches performed in the most clumsy and idiotic way possible. The NFL teams are represented by little homunculi, being unintentionally hilarious. The villain was a terrible knockoff of Cobra Commander who was played for laughs, but wasn't funny at all. And worst of all, it's just a crappy Power Rangers knockoff with football imagery thrown in. Not even an actual cartoon about football. You want kids who don't like sport to like football? SHOW football. Not limited, choppy digital 2-D animation and budget CGI super suit battles. Why can't we make any decent sports cartoons over here? Best we got was the sadly forgotten Mutant League series, some Charlie Brown specials about him failing at baseball, and Wacky Races. Maybe Mucha Lucha. It's a freaking genre in anime and has been since the early days. Why can't we just make an American equivalent of Eyeshield 21?

[@alwinwatt9840]

"Promo SM"

[@XMD007]

2021's S#it Show still sucks. also 2023's also

[@eddiehatesyou]

@poparena You forget Univision is also showing the Super Bowl so yeah the first time in years it's been on multiple channels. Also wonder if anyone will do the Nick Invades Super Bowl special from 2 decades ago where they had to omit a lot from the halftime show