The NFL Playoffs will expand from 12 to 14 teams. This became official when owners approved that small but significant increase on Tuesday. That means that only one team in each conference will get a first-round bye, and an additional wildcard team will be added to the league's sudden death postseason format.
These changes would seem to be pretty notable, and yet the biggest part of this new agreement that fans (at least fans that post thoughts on social media) seem to be focused upon is that the league has agreed to broadcast a wildcard game on Nickelodeon.
NFL.com adds that the additional wildcard games will be shown on CBS and NBC. But those games are also set to be simultaneously aired on CBS All-Access, Telemundo, Peacock (the NBC streaming service) and the aforementioned network frequently associated with kids. This Nickelodeon broadcast will be "tailored for a younger audience," which may have to do with the fact that youth football participation is trending downward. You can come to your own conclusion about the why.
In any event, the novelty of Nickelodeon broadcasting an NFL game seemed to bring amusement to the masses yearning for sports news to comment on. Oh, and people came through with multiple references to SpongeBob SquarePants. Check it out below.
Here's hoping we actually get playoffs. Also a season for that matter.
