For Roblox fans, this year’s Super Bowl is coming to Bikini Bottom.
Thanks to a collaboration between the NFL and game developer Gamefam, a number of the company’s popular Roblox games, including the newly released SpongeBob Simulator, will be featuring special Super Bowl material from early February through Super Bowl Sunday.
SpongeBob Simulator players will be able to help prepare Bikini Bottom—SpongeBob’s hometown—for the big game, fans of Twilight Daycare will be tasked with training babies for a “Baby Bowl” event, and players of the Easy Obby obstacle course game will be able to navigate a Super Bowl and SpongeBob-themed course. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game TMNT Battle Tycoon will also feature a Super Bowl-themed quest, and the football game Super NFL Tycoon will naturally feature games and prizes related to Super Bowl LVIII.
It’s part of an effort by the NFL to appeal to younger generations of fans, who are less likely to watch traditional TV, even if they’re still fans of TV characters like SpongeBob SquarePants and the Ninja Turtles. Players who work their way through the Super Bowl-related features will be able to claim special in-Roblox digital items, like a football helmet decorated with SpongeBob’s likeness.
“They’re engaging less and less in traditional linear media,” says Gamefam founder and CEO Joe Ferencz. “This is exactly where huge heritage organizations like the NFL need to be putting down new roots.”
Last year, the NFL and Gamefam collaborated on a Roblox-hosted Super Bowl concert by the musician Saweetie, which Ferencz says remains the highest-rated Roblox concert of all time. This year, in addition to the Roblox events, the NFL and Paramount will be aiming for the youth audience with a special, SpongeBob-themed broadcast of the Super Bowl on Nickelodeon, titled “Super Bowl LVIII Live From Bikini Bottom.” (The game will also be available on CBS and for streaming on Paramount+.)
“The NFL continues to meet fans where they are, and metaverse gaming has proven to be a successful avenue for the league in achieving that,” says Ed Kiang, vice president of video gaming at the NFL, in a statement to Fast Company. “Coming off the success of last year’s Saweetie Super Bowl Concert Presented by Intuit on Roblox we were excited to team up with Gamefam again to produce a cross Roblox quest including Super NFL Tycoon to promote Super Bowl LVIII and our first alt-cast of the game on Nickelodeon. Bringing together the NFL with SpongeBob and TMNT to Roblox’s over 70M daily users further demonstrates how the NFL is working to reach new audiences while engaging existing fans with entertaining and innovative activations tied to the NFL’s largest tentpole event.”
The NFL previously simulcast a game, dubbed the Nickmas game, on Nickelodeon on Christmas Day, featuring kid-friendly novelties like virtual slime cannons and commentary from the Ninja Turtles. That game also featured Roblox tie-ins, which Gamefam reports saw 31.3 million gameplay sessions over a 12-day period.
Ferencz says he imagines some younger viewers will be playing the games on a second screen during the actual Super Bowl broadcast, while others will play before the actual football begins. The games are each available free to play on all of the platforms Roblox supports, including mobile devices and video game consoles.
While the virtual games might not appeal to older fans watching the traditional broadcast at home or the local bar, as Roblox’s audience continues to grow—and age—Ferencz says the metaverse platform is likely to continue to be key for established media brands looking to reach younger audiences.
“Overall, the big picture to me is that the metaverse, Roblox, these virtual world platforms–these virtual worlds are where Gen Z and Gen Alpha are building their social lives, their entertainment lives,” he says.
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