NFL Playoffs 2022: Nickelodeon, CBS Sports Are Back With Slime-Filled Wild Card Game, Real-Time AR Graphics Unreal Engine-powered graphics will be available live and on first replays By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, January 14, 2022 - 1:34 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
After taking home a pair of Sports Emmys for last year's NFL Wild Card Game coverage, CBS Sports and Nickelodeon are back with another innovative simulcast for Sunday's 49ers-Cowboys matchup. The alternative presentation (the traditional broadcast will air on CBS) will once again be driven by a surfeit of enhanced graphics and augmented-reality elements featuring Nickelodeon characters and the network's signature green slime. This year, however, these elements will be available in real time and on first replays for the first time.
Everything has been enhanced this year, especially on the animation side, says CBS Sports producer Shawn Robbins, who is coordinating producer for the game and Nick's weekly NFL Slimetime studio show. What the graphics team brought to the table last year was super fun and innovative, and they're taking it to the next level this year. We'll have higher-end animations and will be able to turn them around much quicker, which will really make a difference.
Slime and googly eyes
We re running it back this Super Wild Card Weekend when the @49ers take on the @dallascowboys on @nickelodeon.https://t.co/ssQdVo6tqj pic.twitter.com/5c6UHFxcHs
CBS Sports (@CBSSports) January 10, 2022
Nickifed' Broadcast Version 2.0: Enhanced AR Graphics Offer Player-Tracking This year's NFL Wild Card Game on Nickelodeon will feature enhanced original on-field graphics created by Nick's in-house graphics team, upgraded AR elements (a blimp flying throughout the stadium, the return of the Slime Zone cannons on scoring plays, SpongeBob and Patrick graphics between the uprights reacting to field goals), and player-tracking graphics that use slime trails to show the routes of receivers on first replays.
Most important, many of the graphics can be integrated into the broadcast live or in near real time. Last year, the onsite production truck sent clips to Nickelodeon HQ in New York City, where the graphics team applied elements as fast as possible using Adobe After Effects, and then sent graphic back to the truck to be aired. This year, CBS Sports and Nickelodeon have partnered with The Famous Group to create a real-time/quick-turnaround AR graphics workflow based on Epic Games' Unreal Engine.
An AR blimp graphic will be flying throughout the stadium during Nickelodeon's broadcast.
One of the goals that came down from our senior leadership for this year was to have the graphics be as close to real time as possible - or even live - for the viewer, says Kurt Hartman, VP, animation/motion graphics, Nickelodeon. What we did last year worked great, and we will continue to use [that workflow] this year for some things, but we wanted to allow [viewers] to see these graphics live rather than in just replays or bumpers.
Everything is running in Unreal Engine now, he continues, allowing us to do things in real time rather than with pre-renders, which we had to deal with last year. We feel like that is going to make this year's game a version 2.0.
Real-Time AR: Blimp Overhead, Upgraded Slime Zone, Return of SpongeBob The most visible new element in this year's Nick broadcast will be an AR-powered blimp (based on the iconic Kids Choice Awards blimp trophy) flying throughout the stadium during the game. Although there was briefly a pre-rendered blimp graphic in last year's telecast, this year's AR version running in Unreal Engine will cast lifelike shadows on the field, adjust to time of day, and allow cameras to zoom in and out while it's in frame. In addition to dumping slime on the field and lighting up when teams enter the red zone, the blimp can open up its side and display video, such as replays, crowd shots, or graphics.
Nickelodeon and CBS Sports aim to have graphics integrated into the broadcast live and near-live more often than they did last year.
Viewers will also see a big upgrade to the popular Slime Zone graphics featuring four cannons in each corner of the end zone shooting out slime when a team scores.
We had such a huge response to that last year that we felt like we needed to make it even bigger and better, says Hartman. We've rebuilt and redesigned the cannons, and, since everything is running in Unreal Engine, a camera can actually zoom in on one of the slime cannons and see detail because the slime that's coming out of it is a real-time liquid simulation. The cannons also respond to the lighting and time of day, so they're going to look incredibly real.
Slime Zone will also be used on field goals instead of solely on touchdowns. The SpongeBob SquarePants graphic between the goalposts on field-goal attempts will also be back, but it will more dynamic and react to the result of the kick in real time. Hartman also promises plenty of other eye-catching new slime graphics and characters will debut during Sunday's game.
First Replays and Half-Time Highlights: Slime Trails and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Nickelodeon graphics team has partnered with Second Spectrum and the NFL Next Gen Stats player-tracking system to create slime trails that visually show receiver routes on the field. These elements can be turned around quickly enough to be shown on first replays within the broadcast.
The blimp can open up its side and display video, such as replays, crowd shots, or graphics.
We have some other things up our sleeve as far as telestration and slime trails on the field, says Robbins. Our main goal this year is to get those fun [elements] into the broadcast faster in firs
North America Stories
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
28/05/2026
Hosted by ESPN Senior Writer Ryan McGee, the ceremony honored winners from athletic departments, conference offices, professional networks, production companies...
28/05/2026
Major rights-holders rolled out their 2026 college football slates today, offering a first look at marquee windows, kickoff partners, and conference distributio...
28/05/2026
The 4 Nations Face-Off, an international competition that launched in February 2...
28/05/2026
Soccer is a truly global sport, and, to match the U.S. viewing audience's in...
28/05/2026
The NFL Today, CBS Sports' top-of-the-line NFL studio show, has a storied hi...
28/05/2026
Prime Video is no stranger to innovation, and, within the realm of live streamin...
28/05/2026
The crack of the bat, the pop of the glove, and the cheer of the crowd: those are three prime examples of the glorious sounds fans hear on televised baseball ga...
28/05/2026
Every year, March Madness captivates the entire sports world. Nonstop action, un...
28/05/2026
NBA on NBC was an integral part to live sports production in the 1990s, and, when the league made these media rights available, NBC Sports saw an opportunity to...
28/05/2026
UmpCam is a technological wrinkle that has given fans unprecedented views of wha...
28/05/2026
T-Mobile and the United States Golf Association (USGA) announced a multi-year partnership, making T-Mobile the Official 5G Network Partner of the U.S. Women'...
NFL Playoffs 2022: Nickelodeon, CBS Sports Are Back With Slime-Filled Wild Card Game, Real-Time AR Graphics Unreal Engine-powered graphics will be available live and on first replays By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
