CBS SPORTS AND NICKELODEON SET FOR NFL WILD CARD GAME ON NICKELODEON ON SUPER WILD CARD WEEKEND WHEN THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS FACE THE DALLAS COWBOYS ON SUNDAY, JAN. 16, AT 4:30 P.M. (ET)
Kid- and Family-Focused Presentation to Feature Enhanced Graphics, Augmented Reality and Nick Characters; Airs Alongside CBS Sports’ Broadcast of Game on CBS
Slime-Filled Game to Include Special Halftime Exclusive Look of Big Nate, Nickelodeon’s Brand-New Animated Series on Paramount+
NFL x Nickelodeon Co-Branded Collection to Launch Tuesday, Jan. 11
HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Jan. 10, 2022—CBS Sports and Nickelodeon’s special slime-filled presentation during the NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend will feature the San Francisco 49ers taking on the Dallas Cowboys during the NFL Wild Card Game on Nickelodeon on Sunday, Jan. 16, at 4:30 p.m. (ET). The special presentation will air alongside CBS Sports’ broadcast of the game on The CBS Television Network, and is one of six games during Super Wild Card Weekend across Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
CBS Sports’ play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle, CBS Sports’ analyst and former NFL star Nate Burleson and Nick star Gabrielle Nevaeh Green (That Girl Lay Lay) will call the game from the booth for the second consecutive year. Nick star Young Dylan (Dylan Gilmer, Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan) makes his debut as sideline reporter.
Following the success of last season’s telecast, this year’s NFL Wild Card Game on Nickelodeon will feature enhanced original on-field graphics; advanced augmented reality including an AR blimp that will fly throughout the stadium; a special pregame and halftime presentation; guest appearances from Nickelodeon characters; and much more for kids and families. Iain Armitage (CBS' Young Sheldon) will return to help explain penalty calls during the game, and one of game’s top performers will once again be presented with the Nickelodeon Valuable Player (NVP) award which can be voted on at NFLNickPlay.com. This season, NFL Slimetime – a weekly show on Nickelodeon airing Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. ET – included weekly NVP awards, featuring fun and slime-filled celebrations by the players. WATCH HERE.
At halftime, look for the special exclusive look of Nickelodeon’s brand-new animated series Big Nate, based on the best-selling children’s books and comic strip written and drawn by Lincoln Peirce. The series follows Nate, a sixth-grade kid who has a never-ending need to prove his awesomeness to the world and is set to debut on Paramount+ in early 2022.
The NFL Wild Card Game on Nickelodeon will be streamed via the NFL app on phones and tablets for free. CBS Sports’ telecast will also be streamed across digital devices via Paramount+, the CBS Sports app, NFL digital properties, and on mobile on the participating teams’ mobile properties and Yahoo Sports.
NFL X NICKELODEON CO-BRANDED COLLECTION
The NFL and Nickelodeon will launch the NFL x Nickelodeon collection ahead of CBS Sports and Nickelodeon’s special slime-filled presentation of the NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend game on Sunday, Jan. 16, at 4:30 p.m. (ET). The collection celebrates both NFL and Nickelodeon fans and provides an opportunity for kids and families to showcase their fandom in a fun and elevated way.
The collection will feature designs and logos of NFL teams with a mix of ‘90s fan-favorite Nickelodeon characters from hit series such as Rugrats and Hey Arnold!, as well as pieces with the iconic SpongeBob SquarePants and Nickelodeon Slime. The NFL x Nickelodeon collection will include t-shirts from Junk Food, socks from Rock ‘Em Socks, water bottles from Tervis, and bobbleheads* from FOCO (*pre-sale only).
Teams represented in the collection include: Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, and the Minnesota Vikings, among others..
Kai Shappley didn’t feel scared when she sat before the Texas Senate committee in April 2021. Wearing a flowing yellow blouse, floral skirt and cowboy boots, the then-4th grader calmly introduced herself.
“I love ballet, math, science and geology. I spend my free time with my cats, chickens, FaceTiming my friends and dreaming of when I finally get to meet Dolly Parton,” she testified. “I do not like spending my free time asking adults to make good choices.”
Shappley urged lawmakers to vote against Senate bills 1311 and 1646, which banned doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment to transgender kids like herself. One of the bills even went as far as to define the treatment as “child abuse.” (Both bills ultimately failed.)
“It makes me sad that some politicians use trans kids like me to get votes from people who hate me just because I exist,” she continued. “God made me. God loves me for who I am. And God does not make mistakes.”
Beneath her composure, Shappley says she felt furious. Lawmakers were avoiding her gaze, she told TIME, glancing at their watches, scrolling on their phones or doodling on papers. When the opportunity came to ask her questions, no one spoke up.
“Seriously? None of y’all want to know more about me?” she quipped.
Video of Shappley’s testimony quickly went viral. It wasn’t the first time she’s garnered attention. The now-5th grader has been publicly telling her story and calling for trans equality for years. She’s traveled the country with her mother, speaking at rallies for LGBTQ rights. She’s worked with the ACLU on pro-trans projects. She’s met with national lawmakers to urge them to pass the Equality Act, which would outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. But April was the first time she’d ever testified on her own. Her reasoning was simple. “I wanted to show them that all these lies people have been spreading [about trans kids] are not true,” she says.
Shappley is a force of nature. At only 11 years old, the trans rights activist has built a following online; children and adults have written to her saying she’s inspired them to come out. “It makes me want to keep on going, knowing that there are so many people who rely on me,” Shappley says. And amid an unprecedented rise of bills in U.S. state legislatures targeting trans kids—including over 130 anti-trans bills in 2021 alone, per the advocacy group Human Rights Campaign—she has no plans on stopping.
“Activism matters to me because it is a way to show that we belong,” Shappley says. “It’s a way to show that we will fight for what is right. We won’t sit silent.”
The first time Shappley watched her mom testify before Texas lawmakers on her behalf, she was only 5 years old. Her mom was speaking out against a bill that would prevent trans kids like Kai from using the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity. As more anti-trans bills appeared over the following years, the Shappley’s returned again and again. The days could be long. Sometimes Kai and her siblings would sleep on hallway benches or on the floor of the chambers. “She’s grown up in the Texas capitol,” her mother, Kimberly, says.
Shappley puts it differently. “I know the capitol like [I know] my glorious face,” she says, grinning.
It was before the funeral of Monica Roberts—a renowned transgender journalist and advocate who had become Shappley’s mentor—in the fall of 2020 when Kai decided she wanted to start speaking publicly without her mother. “Mom was like, ‘I’ll go up there with you.’ But I said, ‘I think I’m strong enough to talk for myself now,” she says. Shappley ultimately spoke about Roberts’ life and legacy for several minutes. By the spring of 2021, she’d decided she wanted to testify before lawmakers.
“People say she just has that ‘it’ factor… she’ll take any platform and any microphone,” Kimberly Shappley laughs. “She’s just who she is, 105%, all the time until she passes out.”
But activism hasn’t consumed all of Shappley’s time. The sixth of seven kids—and one of only two girls—Kai loves going to school and playing strategy games with her friends, whom she calls “the beauty squad.” She’s completely devoted to Dolly Parton, and appears visibly offended when asked why she likes the famed country singer.
“Why wouldn’t you love her?” she exclaims. “She’s nice. She’s gracious. She’s fabulous. Her hair. Her dresses!”
Shappley says she wants to be “everything” when she grows up. “A mother of 103 cats. An actress. A director. A writer. A scientist. A ballerina. A musician.” She loves acting, and even appeared in an episode of Netflix’s 2020 show The Baby-Sitters Club. “Next thing you know, I’ll be on Broadway,” she beams.
Shappley’s family moved from Pearland, Tex., to Austin in 2018 after her previous school refused to let her use the girl’s bathroom. She loves the new city. Even still, her mother says they worry about the state becoming a hostile environment for trans kids. And after Texas lawmakers filed at least 13 bills directly targeting trans kids last legislative session, the family decided they’d seen enough. They plan on moving out of Texas, the only place Shappley has lived her entire life.
“I don’t think people understand the whole picture of what trans families are going through,” Kimberly says. “It’s not safe.” The attention on Shappley’s activism has also directed unwanted online hate towards their family. They’ve even received death threats.
But the family has a saying: It’s Mom’s job to worry. It’s Kai’s job to tell her story. And so she’s going to keep telling it. Shappley plans on testifying against more anti-trans bills in the future, and says she is prepared to testify “every single time” if she needs to. She feels a responsibility, she says, “to stand up for all of those who [cannot] have a voice of their own.”
“It’s in my nature to do what’s right,” she adds. “And it’s in my nature to get into a lot of drama.”
Kid of the Yearairs February 9 during a TV special on Nickelodeon! Click HERE for more information! The finalists of Kid of the Year 2021 include: anti-bullying activist DJ Annie Red; inventor Lino Marrero; AAPI activist Mina Fedor; marine conservationist Miles Fetherston-Resch; philanthropist Jayden Perez; kindness advocate Orion Jean, and marine conservationist Cash Daniels.
Texas Trans Girl Is Named a TIME ‘Kid of the Year’ Finalist
11-year-old Kai Shappley is being honored as a trans-rights activist.
If you’re an avid OutSmart reader, you’re most likely a fan of Kai Shappley.
The 11-year-old transgender Texan has been making headlines since 2016, when she and her mother fought back against Pearland ISD’s anti-trans bathroom policy. Two years later, her story became the subject of the Emmy Award-winning film Trans in America: Texas Strong, as well as several popular streaming documentaries.
A few months after she portrayed Bailey in Netflix’s 2020 reboot of The Baby-Sitters Club, Shappley was at the Texas Capitol urging lawmakers to vote against several bills aimed at banning gender-affirming treatments for trans children. One of her testimonies went viral and she garnered thousands of followers across her social media, where she continues advocating for trans rights.
Shappley is now being honored by TIME magazine as a ‘Kid of The Year’ finalist. The national publication made the announcement in a January 12 article titled “Kid of the Year Finalist Kai Shappley, 11, Takes on Lawmakers in Her Fight for Trans Rights,” in which she discusses activism, her career aspirations, her love for Dolly Parton, and more.
“Proud to be a finalist for TIME Kid of the Year,” Shappley shared to her over 11,000 Instagram followers. “Activism matters to me because it’s a way to show that we belong. It’s a way to show that we fight for what is right. We won’t sit silent.”
Kid of the Year was launched by TIME (in partnership with the Nickelodeon network) in 2020. The first honoree was 15-year-old scientist Gitanjali Rao, who invented a mobile device to test lead in drinking water.
To read Kai Shappley’s ‘Kid of the Year’ finalist profile, go here.
ViacomCBS Consumer Products Promotes Joann Acevedo to SVP of Softlines Licensing, North America
Joann Acevedo has been promoted to Senior Vice President (SVP), Softlines Licensing, North America ViacomCBS Consumer Products. The news was announced by Jose Castro, SVP, Softlines, Fashion & Lifestyle Licensing and Global Collaborations, ViacomCBS Consumer Products.
In this role, Acevedo will lead strategy and growth across multiple categories of business including Apparel, Accessories, and Home Furnishings, reaching fans of all ages through the company’s portfolio of iconic franchises including PAW Patrol, Blue’s Clues & You!, SpongeBob SquarePants, MTV and Star Trek.
Joann will also partner with the Toronto-based ViacomCBS Consumer Products team to expand the softlines business throughout Canada. Joann is based in New York and will continue to report to Castro.
“Joann skillfully navigates softlines licensing across the beloved ViacomCBS brands and characters while working with a complex and diverse licensee matrix,” said Castro. “She continues to inspire our partners and drive excitement for our biggest priority initiatives, securing some of the largest ViacomCBS licensing deals to date.”
Joann is charged with managing existing partnerships and developing new business opportunities for ViacomCBS’ properties across all softlines categories. She also focuses on specialty and department store retail accounts, executing exclusive campaigns that broaden the in-store footprint of ViacomCBS’ franchises.
A 19-year Viacom veteran, Acevedo most recently served as Vice President (VP), Softlines Licensing. In that role, she secured revenue-building partnerships for some of ViacomCBS’ biggest franchises including PAW Patrol, SpongeBob SquarePants, JoJo Siwa and Yellowstone. Acevedo has created a model for operational excellence and, along with her team, has generated record growth for the Softlines division. She has also secured larger strategic partnerships that exponentially extend the reach of ViacomCBS’ properties beyond the screen, developing programs like JoJo’s Closet Apparel Collection at Target. Joann has also doubled the ViacomCBS Consumer Products presence on e-commerce platforms and launched the first-ever subscription box service for ViacomCBS properties. Acevedo has also played an integral role in a myriad of socially conscious consumer products campaigns, including a reusable face mask program in partnership with Save the Children, which featured beloved Nickelodeon characters on face coverings which resulted in approximately 4 million dollars being donated to the non-profit’s COVID-19 domestic and global response initiative.
Acevedo has also been passionate about spearheading diversity and inclusion efforts for the ViacomCBS Consumer Products organization to better reflect the brand’s diverse audience. She continues to advocate for new opportunities and partnerships in this critically important space.
Acevedo began her career as an Apparel Coordinator with the Nickelodeon Consumer Products team in 2003.
