Speed Reads

expansion

An NFL playoff game will air on Nickelodeon

The National Football League is officially expanding its postseason — and the number of networks carrying games.

The league's 32 owners approved a plan Tuesday to add an extra team in each conference to the playoffs starting next season, which means 14 teams will clinch a spot as opposed to 12. Only one team in each conference will receive a first-round bye under the new format.

Wild card weekend just got a whole busier, since there will be an extra game in each conference now. CBS and NBC are the big winners here — the networks each get one of the new games. And as a result of CBS' pickup, a surprising television channel is also now set to broadcast a game. The CBS game will simultaneously air on Nickelodeon, of all places, in a separate production geared toward younger audiences.

Hopefully, it's not in the agreement that the losing team has to get slimed. Read more at ESPN.