The Masked Singer's new format was inspired by the NFL playoffs

TheWrap

Having two groups more closely follows the NFL's NFC-AFC playoff format. “And then they come together for one great Super Bowl at the end. That’s what attracted us to it," says Fox reality boss Rob Wade. He adds of this change and adding the "Take It Off Buzzer": “When you’re into the sixth season of a show, you’ve got to try different things. I think that it felt like, with the combination of Wildcards and the fact that we have a slightly shorter run, because it’s the full season, it felt like this was the right time to try something different.”