The average NFL game last 3hours 12minutes, yet the average time the ball is in play

[Town's Town]

Is only 11 minutes. :eek:

That is a lot of sitting around for 11 minutes of action.

[fiddy]

Handegg is more boring than soccer, most overrated sport ever?

[CavaliersFTW]

Is only 11 minutes. :eek:

That is a lot of sitting around for 11 minutes of action.
Yeah it's honestly a bit much. I don't watch football and that's one of the reasons.

The NBA has been getting longer and longer too, I notice 48 minute games of the past 5 years take a lot longer than 48 minute games from 30+ years ago.

[WayOfWade]

If this wasn't allowed, the games would go on for like 5-6 hours. Having to play every single second wouldn't be a very good idea

[tomtucker]

yeah, NFL sucks...........but the end of NBA games are no picnic either.........1 minute left can take 10 mins, too many timeouts and fouling on purpose :facepalm .........

[DonD13]

nfl: 3h12 for 60 minutes play time

nba: 2h20 for 48 minutes play time


it's pretty much the same

[imdaman99]

What about baseball?

[~primetime~]

That's definitely the GOAT 11 minutes in sports though.

[arkain]

Watching NFL is tough. Huge time investment considering more than 50% of the time you're watching commercials.

I usually do other stuff while these games are on in the background and occasionally glance towards the screen.

NBA is still ok because at least the ball is in play for the entire 48 minutes and anything can happen in that time. Same for soccer, might not be high scoring but the ball is in play for most of the 90 minutes.

[Nanners]

this is why i got a tivo

[UK2K]

What about baseball?

By WSJ calculations, a baseball fan will see 17 minutes and 58 seconds of action over the course of a three-hour game.

If we'd cut the action definition down to just the time when everyone on the field is running around looking for something to do (balls in play and runner advancement attempts), we'd be down to 5:47.

The "time between batters" averaged 33:39.
The "time between innings" averaged 42:41.
By far the most time-consuming period of inaction is the "time between pitches." This took up an average of 1:14:49.

[tmacattack33]

Is only 11 minutes. :eek:

That is a lot of sitting around for 11 minutes of action.

This is such a simple minded thing to say.

1. Those 11 minutes of play are pure intensity...as each play matters due to the genius of the 4 down rule

2. So much happens in each play that watching the replay and hearing the commentary in between actual plays is quite entertaining

3. If you are a true football head, you are watching things pre-snap...you're looking at the offensive formation, defensive formation, offensive personel, etc






In basketball, there is 48 minutes of play. But I am not really entertained by a guy getting an inbounds pass after a score and taking 10 seconds to walk up the court and set the next play up. As far as I'm concerned, that's just as entertaining to me as watching pre-snap football formations and movements.

[JohnnySic]

The best way to watch an NFL game is to record it and skip through the commercials and dead time between plays. No annoying bs and you're done in about 20 minutes.

[senelcoolidge]

NFL, football is boring. I'd rather watch baseball. I agree the last minute of nba games can be annoying.

[JohnnySic]

By WSJ calculations, a baseball fan will see 17 minutes and 58 seconds of action over the course of a three-hour game.

If we'd cut the action definition down to just the time when everyone on the field is running around looking for something to do (balls in play and runner advancement attempts), we'd be down to 5:47.

The "time between batters" averaged 33:39.
The "time between innings" averaged 42:41.
By far the most time-consuming period of inaction is the "time between pitches." This took up an average of 1:14:49.
Its a little different. In baseball, there's stuff going on between pitches. Runners on base to be aware of, fielders changing their fielding position, etc. In football there's no actual action until the line up/snap.

But baseball is very tedious in that there's too much time between pitches. Move it along please.

[UK2K]

Its a little different. In baseball, there's stuff going on between pitches. Runners on base to be aware of, fielders changing their fielding position, etc. In football there's no actual action until the line up/snap.

But baseball is very tedious in that there's too much time between pitches. Move it along please.

There's no need to adjust your gloves after every pitch. :confusedshrug:

[ace23]

If this wasn't allowed, the games would go on for like 5-6 hours. Having to play every single second wouldn't be a very good idea
Huh

[imdaman99]

There's no need to adjust your gloves after every pitch. :confusedshrug:
There isn't, but ppl are superstitious. There are rituals/celebrations going on after every play in football, after every play in basketball too. The difference is that the clock/play doesn't necessarily stop when they're doing it.

[UK2K]

There isn't, but ppl are superstitious. There are rituals/celebrations going on after every play in football, after every play in basketball too. The difference is that the clock/play doesn't necessarily stop when they're doing it.
Well yeah, I get all that.

It's just, we'll shit if you look almost two hours of the game is spent in between pitches.

Someone pointed out there were line shifts and runners to account for on bags, which is awesome if you know that, but where I get enjoyment out of seeing personnel changes from play to play in NFL games, your average person isn't going to notice, or care.

I don't think a pitch clock is the answer, but there has to be a way to speed up the play in between pitches. At least when there's a 7-7 football game, you still see people hit each other and make cool plays whereas, in baseball, a pitcher can give up 2 hits and 1 ER all game... and that's it. Your average fan won't want to watch a four hour game to see two men get on base.

I mean honestly if a sport isn't for you, it just isn't for you, but for the sake of the game itself, they need to do something to generate more action or else the best athletes will continue to play football and basketball.

[ArbitraryWater]

Yeah it's honestly a bit much. I don't watch football and that's one of the reasons.

The NBA has been getting longer and longer too, I notice 48 minute games of the past 5 years take a lot longer than 48 minute games from 30+ years ago.

NBA games pretty much take exactly 2.5 hours, and yes, I've noticed too NFL games takes a bit more than 3 hours.

[eliteballer]

The thing you have to understand about the NFL and football as a whole is that a lot of the popularity of the sport isn't because of the game itself.

It's the culture that surrounds the game.

"Yeah, let's have a bunch of beers and bbq and watch our towns army take on the other towns army!"

[Kblaze8855]

The best way to watch an NFL game is to record it and skip through the commercials and dead time between plays. No annoying bs and you're done in about 20 minutes.

I watch redzone. 7 hours straight no commercials no down time every big play. And if my team is playing I may put one or other in the corner of the screen to check in.

I only see commercials on Sunday and monday night games.

[Town's Town]

nfl: 3h12 for 60 minutes play time

nba: 2h20 for 48 minutes play time


it's pretty much the same

No, if 40 of those minutes of play time were the team standing around out of bounds looking to inbound, then it would be pretty much the same.

[DonD13]

No, if 40 of those minutes of play time were the team standing around out of bounds looking to inbound, then it would be pretty much the same.

pre-snap play counts

it's like saying, let's not count all the dribbling around in basketball and all of a sudden it's only 9 minutes 'real basketball' going on

[tmacattack33]

The thing you have to understand about the NFL and football as a whole is that a lot of the popularity of the sport isn't because of the game itself.

It's the culture that surrounds the game.

"Yeah, let's have a bunch of beers and bbq and watch our towns army take on the other towns army!"

I'm sorry but a game can't get that big because of the "culture" of it...lol.

You can also watch beer and go watch a baseball game, yet baseball gets about 1/7th of the ratings NFL does.


It's a great game, where every play matters because of the 4 down rule. Each game has its own story due to the passing vs rushing balance and the turnovers. There are multiple things to watch for on every play, like the line battles and the db-wr battles.

The NFL also got it right by limiting it to 16 regular season games, and rewarding the two best teams in conference with a first round BYE. LOL at how much more meaningful an NFL regular season game is than an NBA one.

[fiddy]

nfl: 3h12 for 60 minutes play time

nba: 2h20 for 48 minutes play time


it's pretty much the same
Lmao, not at all. 2h:20m for 48 minutes of playtime + free throws, probably 1h+ of real action on average

[~primetime~]

I feel like with NBA games I don't even need to watch the 1st half...just the 2nd half

I don't get that in the NFL...I need to watch ALL of it.

[tmacattack33]

Lmao, not at all. 2h:20m for 48 minutes of playtime + free throws, probably 1h+ of real action on average

I don't see why you would consider a point guard dribbling the ball up for 10 seconds while the offense sets up to be any different or more exciting than the QB sitting there behind the center directing his troops before the ball is snapped.

[tmacattack33]

I feel like with NBA games I don't even need to watch the 1st half...just the 2nd half

I don't get that in the NFL...I need to watch ALL of it.

Yes, this is true.

In basketball, the biggest play possible in the first quarter is a steal which then leads to a 3 pointer. BIg deal

In football, you can have a pick six in the first quarter that could end up changing the whole game.

[Town's Town]

pre-snap play counts

it's like saying, let's not count all the dribbling around in basketball and all of a sudden it's only 9 minutes 'real basketball' going on

Pre-snap counts for as much as inbounds plays.

[chosen_one6]

Football is popular for multiple reasons.

One: the pace is so slow and there are so many breaks that it allows the short-attention spanned Americans to be able to process what's going on. Most people that watch a football game aren't even watching it, because nothing is happening unless a touchdown is scored. When something does happen, there's enough time to listen to the commentators and watch 5 replays before the next play is called because of all of the stoppages in football.

Two: It's violent. People like violence, and have for hundreds of years.

Three: Most of the games are only on one day, a day which a lot of people do not have to work. This, again, feeds into how Americans have very short attention spans. They don't have to keep up with how their team is doing every day, just one day out of the week.

Four: The season is short. Again, tailoring to how Americans have short attention spans. They only have to pay attention once a week, 16 times. It increases the intensity of the games every week.

Five: Gambling. Football has a lot of little things and big things to gamble on, from betting on whether a team will get a first down, to point spreads, to fantasy football. The fact that football has a lot of parity as well helps out too. Teams change drastically in season due to injuries, which there are a lot of in football due to the violent nature.

There are other reasons as well but I feel those are some of the larger reasons as to why it's risen to the popularity level that it has in the U.S.

[outbreak]

Never understood why American's say soccer and cricket are boring but then enjoy NFL and Baseball.

I find NFL boring and don't see the appeal but it's likely a large part of that is because I haven't taken the time to learn the ins and outs of the tactics and things going on in a play that the casual observers misses. I think a lot of the time when people who like sports in general don't like a particular sport a part of it is not knowing the sport well enough to see the intricacies.