From dubbing Travis Kelce as “Taylor Swift’s Boyfriend” to Dora the Explorer saying, “Maybe they need a map to find the end zone,” viewers may wonder if Nickelodeon’s special version of Super Bowl LVIII was the best version to watch.
For Super Bowl LVIII, Nickelodeon aired an alternative broadcast that featured their own spin on the beloved event. Co-casting the game were human sport commentators, Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson, who is a sports analyst and the host of NFL Slimetime. The two were also joined by the classic duo of Spongebob and Patrick Star.
At the start, viewers watched as the Allegiant Stadium was brought to the Bikini Bottom through the use of the “Bigifier 300.” Nickelodeon’s broadcast kicked off with Spongebob and his friends singing their own rendition of the song “Sweet Victory,” which was featured in the 2001 episode “Band Geeks.”
As the game went on, Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson would call out the plays while Spongebob and Patrick would make jokes to entertain those watching. Viewers were also brought down to the field with Sandy Cheeks as a sideline reporter. Green slime would explode out into the field when touchdowns were made and there were also shots of the Nickelodeon blimp covering crowds of people with Nickelodeon’s classic green slime.
Ajang Ajang, freshman, said that “The Spongebob Super Bowl was really an interesting experience and I think it’s really that it happened.”
Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke, the voices of Spongebob and Patrick Star respectively, brought a lot of pizzazz to not only the commentator box, but also their own characters. The two were decked out in augmented reality suits that would capture their movements and, due to not having to abide by a script and the fact that they were given creative freedom, their characters became alive and popped out more.
Doodlebob would sometimes show up and write on the screen and there would sometimes be cuts to celebrities like “Shrimpotheé Chalamet, Billie Eelish, and Megan Thee Sturgeon.
There were about 200 people in the crew that worked to animate this technological monstrosity. Teams worked between Las Vegas and New York City, sending information back and forth to create some amazing animations.
Despite being aimed towards a younger audience, this broadcast was able to be enjoyed by every Spongebob fan, young or old, and Nickelodeon was able to attract people who aren’t even that interested in football to begin with. Even if the spotlight from the actual game may have been taken away for some people, the Nickelodeon’s special broadcast was definitely the best way to watch the Super Bowl.
