How Much Is Football Even In A Football Broadcast?
Around 100 million Americans will watch Super Bowl LIV on Sunday. This year’s Super Bowl is not simply America’s most-watched television broadcast. Still, it is also the country’s most-watched sporting event and the most important and most-watched television broadcast.
This past semester, students in our sports analytics course at the University of Texas looked into the nature of professional sports broadcasts. We watched a wide variety of sports shows and meticulously recorded every second of every game. We wanted to learn more about the most valuable assets in sports—live game broadcasts—and how these broadcasts differ across different sports.
According to our research, NFL broadcasts are among the most disrupted and action-packed of any sporting event, even though every sport’s broadcast is distinct. In other words, a normal American football game doesn’t feature much football.
Astonishing numbers have been compiled. Even though a typical NFL broadcast lasts well over three hours, just 18 minutes of football activity is shown during that time. Because of timeouts and commercial interruptions, NFL game broadcasts typically last far longer than an hour, even though games start at one hour and include a 12-minute halftime break.
The average NFL broadcast ran three hours and 23 minutes, including 50 minutes of commercial breaks, in our sample of 10 regular-season games from this season. Critics have claimed that “Parasite” is too long, evidenced by its Oscar nomination. However, “Parasite’s” running time is roughly 70 minutes less than a regular Dolphins game, so if you thought the film’s climax was awful, wait until you see the fourth quarter of a Dolphins game.
A typical NFL play lasts only a few seconds from snapping the ball until the whistle blows, with play duration varied depending on the style of play. For example, the time of a long pass play is greater than that of a quick running play. Unlike soccer or basketball, football has a distinct advantage in that the game clock frequently runs during non-athletic play. It’s safe to say that most NFL broadcasts use these intervals, which aren’t exactly meaningless. In these games, the teams experiment with their lineups and formations and the play calls they make. They create tension.
Even so, the total football entertainment density of an NFL broadcast is dependent on a viewer’s perspective and their level of football expertise and involvement in the game. It’s all about perspective in sports. Most of the broadcast will be interesting if you pay attention to the mechanics in between plays, but if you don’t, you’ll be bored.
Sporting events with more continuous play and fewer stoppages may significantly outweigh the National Football League (NFL). Sporting events like soccer and basketball provide greater action and fewer interruptions in a shorter period than football.
Our research revealed that the average English Premier League telecast ran under two hours. Most of that was dedicated to the actual game. Due to the fast-paced nature of the English Premier League, there are five times as many minutes of action (59 minutes) as advertising (10 minutes). Yet, even those commercial breaks are neatly consolidated into the 15-minute halftime period. Ads are inserted into the action in sponsored jerseys and billboards, which surround the pitch and are seen in the corner of our screens.
