Nickelodeon Super Bowl Coverage Labels Travis Kelce 'Taylor Swift's Boyfriend,' Teases Leo DiCaprio

From poking fun at Leonardo DiCaprio to their ridiculous on-screen chryons failing to even give Travis Kelce his own name, instead dubbing him "Taylor Swift's boyfriend," and burning the Kansas City Chiefs for how long it took them to score their first touchdown, it was unadulterated (because it's a kid's network) madness.

It wasn't all insanity, though, as the cartoon characters were joined by legitimate sports commentators Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson, who did a fine job calling the actual game. They were joined by voice actors Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke as Spongebob and Patrick, respectively.

But, it wasn't the actors that viewers saw any time the camera cut to their control booth at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Instead, they were covered by augmented reality (AR) digital versions of their animated counterparts, completing the illusion. The digitizations even moved along with their live comments.

And they weren't the only animated characters brought to life with AR throughout the game. There were plenty of other Bikini Bottom residents present on the field and in the stands, including sideline reporting by Sandy Cheeks and attempted game interruptions by Plankton.

Super Bowl LVIII marked the fifth time Nickelodeon has broadcast live coverage of an NFL game, but the first time they'd tackled a Super Bowl. That previous experience, though, certainly showed as most of their on-screen antics played off effortlessly. They even managed to dump (digital) slime on the Kansas City Chiefs in the moment of their overtime victory -- and every other big moment in both endzones.

This Super Bowl was also the highest-profile Nickelodeon NFL coverage yet, with CBS's main coverage of the game even giving the broadcast a shout-out, along with a shot of Spongebob and Patrick sitting alongside their human counterparts up in their official announcer's booth.

All of that attention helped the broadcast go viral on social media as many fans found themselves enjoying the sillier take on the big game, as well as some of the unexpected moments of levity the two cartoon commentators offered live along the way.

One moment that went viral was a very gentle poke at DiCaprio's dating history, referring to the 49-year-old's seeming penchant for moving on from his girlfriends once they surpass 25 years of age. It's been a consistent pattern for so long that news of it apparently even reached Bikini Bottom.

DiCaprio came up during the broadcast as a random point of discussion with Eagle and Burleson. "Leonardo DiCaprio, 25," Spongebob said. He then added, in case that wasn't clear enough, "That's his dating history."

As burns go, it was pretty benign, but the fact that Spongebob went there at all was enough to get the moment trending. Other moments that got fans chatting and sharing included Kelce being labeled only "Taylor Swift's Boyfriend" who is "Good at Football," as well as moments where Dora the Explorer pops up to explain the rules of the game. They even cut to fish-ified celebs in the crowd from Megan Thee Sturgeon to Billie Eelish and LePrawn James.

Corporate synergy likely played a part in Nickelodeon's coverage of the Super Bowl this year as both it and CBS are part of the Viacom conglomerate. As the Super Bowl rotates coverage between CBS, NBC, and Fox, it could be harder for Nickelodeon to get this on the air over the next two years -- but they should certainly try!

With this kind of attention and an absolutely charming broadcast that's gone even more viral after people started to realize what they'd missed, here's hoping Nickelodeon finds a way to stay involved with NFL (and Super Bowl) coverage for years to come.

You can check out some of the broadcast's most viral moments that fans can't seem to get enough of below. And if you missed out on the fun, Nickelodeon is offering "NFL Slimelights" from their Super Bowl coverage tonight at 7pm ET.