Okay, so the other day I was watching a football game on TV with my buddies, and we got into this debate about how long these games actually last.
I mean, you see “60 minutes” on the game clock, but that’s never the whole story, right?
So, I grabbed my phone, and I did some digging on the internet. And let me tell you, it’s a bit more complicated than you might think.
Here’s what I found out:
- Officially, there are four quarters, each 15 minutes long. That adds up to 60 minutes of game time.
- But then there’s halftime. I found that usually it is about 12-15 minutes.
- And of course, there are all those commercial breaks. Each team gets a certain number of timeouts, and there are TV timeouts sprinkled in, too.
- Plus, you’ve got other stoppages like penalties, injuries, and reviews, so the time really stretches.
From what I gathered, most sources say that the average NFL game, when you’re watching it on TV, is a little over three hours. Sometimes it’s a bit quicker, sometimes it drags on longer, like three and half hours, depending on what’s happening in the game.
My conclusion
So, yeah, even though the game clock says 60 minutes, you’re actually signing up for a three-hour-plus commitment when you sit down to watch an NFL game on TV. It is really a long time! Next time we plan a football-watching party, I’ll make sure to tell everyone to clear their schedules!
And this is my sharing about the pratical experience of the NFL game time.
