Nickelodeon NFL Nickmas

In two previous years, CBS and Nickelodeon have partnered on “Nickified” NFL simulcasts, with the goal of bringing football to a younger viewing audience. In 2022, we helped the broadcasters up their game for the Christmas Day “Nickmas” game at SoFi Stadium in LA.

With the chief aims of telling a cohesive creative story, developing flexible AR moments to keep viewers entertained, and pushing the technical boundaries of what had been done in live AR on TV, Silver Spoon developed a “Holiday Invasion” of mixed-reality effects and holiday-themed characters, including Santa Claus, a crew of mischievous snowballs, a giant Yeti who constantly wreaked havoc during the game, and, of course, the iconic Nickelodeon slime.

The final product, Nickelodeon’s “Nickified” simulcast of CBS’s Christmas Day game between the LA Rams and Denver Broncos, moved the chains on storytelling, entertainment, and technology.

The game broke new ground in real-time broadcasting, built entirely in Unreal Engine 5.0, featuring game-controlled characters on live TV, and utilizing real-time facial capture technology for live on-air commentary from an animated character. Patrick Star’s play-by-play analysis was an undeniable hit, with his first-half roast of Russell Wilson’s “intraception” going viral online.
With over 35 minutes of live AR airing during the game, viewership was record-breaking, with double digit increases over the previous year, and becoming the highest-rated Christmas Day telecast since 2011.