The figure comes from nflverse's play-by-play data, which stamps nearly every play with the time of day. We dropped the bad stamps and kept real stoppages, and the result holds up: it lands within two minutes of Sports Illustrated's table in 20 of 21 Super Bowls.
How long is an NFL game? Average length by season since 2001
The length has barely moved in a quarter century. Every regular season has averaged between 3:03, in 2008, and 3:10, in 2013, a year lifted by three long weather delays, and since 2003 the average has never moved more than 3 minutes, 11 seconds from one full season to the next. MLB's pitch clock cut 24 minutes in one season. The 3:12 quoted by Sports Illustrated and other sites is higher than any season in our data.
From 2021 to 2025, 40 percent of regular-season games finished in under three hours and 3 percent took 3:30 or more. A 1 p.m. ET Sunday game kicked off nearly three minutes late and ended around 4:05 p.m., a 4:25 game around 7:26, a Sunday night game around 11:28 and a Monday night game around 11:18. The NFL schedule has every kickoff time.
How long is a football game with commercials? Where the three hours go
About 3:04: the rulebook sets 60 minutes of clock, and commercials, huddles and halftime fill the rest. In regulation games without a stoppage from 2021 to 2025, the first quarter took 34:30, the second 47:04, halftime 14:13, the third 36:09 and the fourth 44:09, plus about 3:08 after each of the first and third quarters.
The second quarter is the slowest because of how it ends: from the last snap before the two-minute mark to the end of the half takes a median 14:54, up from 12:30 in 2001. After that two-minute warning, a runner going out of bounds stops the clock until the next snap. The end of a game goes quicker, 9:08, since teams ahead run the clock and kneel.
Timestamps cannot measure action. A Wall Street Journal study of four broadcasts, reported by Fox Sports in 2010, put the ball in play for about 11 minutes and commercials at about an hour. College games run longer: 3:22 by the NCAA statistics Sports Illustrated cited in 2023, before a clock rule change.
How long is halftime in the NFL?
Thirteen minutes, under Rule 4 of the 2026 rulebook. The 12 minutes still widely quoted was the rule in 2017, when Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay said it came with "built-in delay time." From the second-quarter clock reaching zero to the second-half kickoff, the real break has a median of 14:01 from 2021 to 2025 and 14:09 in 2025.
- Regular season: 93 percent of 1,296 halftimes from 2021 to 2025 ran 13 to 15 minutes, and none ran under 13. The median was already 14:03 from 2003 to 2016.
- Playoffs before the Super Bowl, 2012 to 2025: 14:03.
- Thanksgiving Day, 2012 to 2025: 20:06, with 21:31 in Dallas.
- Super Bowl: 32:01, between 28:15 and 36:51 in 25 games.
How long is the Super Bowl?
The 25 Super Bowls of the 2001 to 2025 seasons averaged 3:38, the figure Sports Illustrated gives, about 32 minutes more than the regular season's 3:06; 18 of those minutes are the longer halftime. The shortest was Super Bowl XLIV, at 3:14. The longest was XLVII, at 4:13 with a 34-minute power failure, then LVIII, at 4:06 with overtime. LX, in February, took 3:43.
How long are NFL playoff games?
A few minutes longer than the regular season's 3:06: from 2001 to 2025, Wild Card games averaged 3:07, divisional games 3:11 and conference title games 3:13, and the three rounds ran longer than that year's regular season in 22 of 25 seasons. Without overtime or stoppages they averaged 3:07, against 3:05.
Overtime adds far more. Since the regular-season period was cut to 10 minutes in 2017, overtime games have averaged 3:27, about 24 minutes more than games settled in regulation, for 6:45 of extra clock. Our overtime guide has the rules.
What makes an NFL game long: incomplete passes, penalties and scoring
Runs are not the difference. Split into four by length, the shortest and longest groups of regulation games from 2021 to 2025 had about the same number. The long games had 7.8 more incomplete passes, which stop the clock, 4.7 more accepted penalties and 13 more points.
| Per game | Shortest 318 | Longest 318 |
|---|---|---|
| Real time | 2:50 | 3:15 |
| Plays from scrimmage | 118.6 | 129.7 |
| Incomplete passes | 18.0 | 25.9 |
| Runs | 52.6 | 51.1 |
| Accepted penalties | 9.6 | 14.4 |
| Points | 38.9 | 51.6 |
A simple regression on those games explains 78 percent of the differences and prices each item with the others held fixed:
- Kickoff: 2:07. Most follow a score, with a median 2:56 from extra point to kickoff in 2025.
- Replay review: 1:54.
- Timeout: 1:01.
- Accepted penalty: 49 seconds.
- Incomplete pass: 44 seconds, against 15 for any other play.
NFL game length by kickoff window: Sunday, Monday and Thursday
The slot barely matters. In the windows of our rest and Thursday night study, games without overtime or a stoppage ran between 3:01 and 3:06, Thanksgiving aside.
| Kickoff window | Games | Average | No overtime or delay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, before 4 p.m. ET | 1,924 | 3:07 | 3:05 |
| Sunday, late afternoon | 883 | 3:06 | 3:05 |
| Sunday night | 246 | 3:08 | 3:05 |
| Monday night | 254 | 3:05 | 3:04 |
| Thursday night, short week | 178 | 3:07 | 3:06 |
| Thanksgiving Day | 40 | 3:13 | 3:12 |
| Saturday | 76 | 3:04 | 3:01 |
| All regular-season games | 3,643 | 3:07 | 3:05 |
Short-week Thursday nights ran about a minute longer than Sunday afternoons, not shorter. Thanksgiving's extra seven minutes are almost all halftime, 20:06 against 13:57.
The longest NFL game ever, by real time and by the clock
By real time it is the Tennessee Titans' 27-20 loss at the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 9, 2018: 7 hours and 8 minutes, the longest since the 1970 merger according to NFL Research and Elias. By game clock it predates our data: the Dolphins' 27-24 double-overtime playoff win at the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 25, 1971, 82 minutes, 40 seconds. Since 2001 the longest by clock is 76:42, the Baltimore Ravens' 38-35 win at the Denver Broncos on Jan. 12, 2013, at 4:11 also the longest game without a stoppage.
| Game | Date | Time | Stoppage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titans at Dolphins | Sept. 9, 2018 | 7:08 | Two for lightning, 1:57 and 2:02 |
| Ravens at Bears | Nov. 17, 2013 | 5:16 | Weather, 1:53; overtime |
| Browns at Buccaneers | Sept. 20, 2026 | 5:15 | Lightning, 2:12 |
| Broncos at Buccaneers | Oct. 2, 2016 | 4:32 | Lightning, 1:26 |
| Rams at Buccaneers | Sept. 25, 2016 | 4:30 | Weather, 1:09 |
| Saints at Buccaneers | Sept. 15, 2013 | 4:30 | Lightning, 1:09 |
| Cardinals at Steelers | Dec. 3, 2023 | 4:18 | Two for lightning, about 1:30 |
| Cowboys at Broncos | Sept. 17, 2017 | 4:15 | Lightning, 1:02 |
| Ravens vs. 49ers, Super Bowl XLVII | Feb. 3, 2013 | 4:13 | Power failure, 34 minutes |
| Bills at Chiefs | Oct. 10, 2021 | 4:13 | Lightning at halftime, over an hour |
All 10 had a stoppage, and four of the top six were played in Tampa, all in September or early October. The shortest since 2001 took 2:32: the Las Vegas Raiders at the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 14, 2025, and two other games.
Did rule changes make NFL games shorter?
Not by much, in our data. In March 2017 Commissioner Roger Goodell announced fewer, longer commercial breaks, four a quarter instead of five. The average went from 3:09 in 2016 to 3:07 in 2017 and 3:08 in 2019, though the timing inside games shifted at once: the gap from extra point to kickoff grew from 2:28 to 2:51 and the breaks between quarters from 2:43 to 2:59.
The total did not move after the dynamic kickoff of 2024: 3:04:03 a game from 2021 to 2023 and 3:03:56 in 2024 and 2025, while plays per game fell from 126.2 in 2023 to 122.5 in 2025.
NFL game length in 2026
Through Week 8, which ended on Nov. 2, the 121 games have averaged 3:09:13, against 3:04 in the same weeks of 2025. That includes the Cleveland Browns' 23-19 win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 20, stopped by lightning at the two-minute warning and finished in 5:15; without it the average is 3:08, the longest first eight weeks, delays aside, since 2018. Against the same weeks of 2025:
- Overtime games: 11, against three.
- Plays per game: 124.6, against 122.1.
- Incomplete passes per game: 22.3, against 21.0.
- Accepted penalties per game: 14.6, against 14.0, as our penalties study tracks.
- Games under three hours: 25 percent, against 40 percent.
Average NFL game length by season: the full table
| Season | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 2026* | 3:09 | 3:07 |
| 2025 | 3:04 | 3:03 |
| 2024 | 3:04 | 3:03 |
| 2023 | 3:04 | 3:02 |
| 2022 | 3:03 | 3:02 |
| 2021 | 3:05 | 3:03 |
| 2020 | 3:06 | 3:05 |
| 2019 | 3:08 | 3:07 |
| 2018 | 3:07 | 3:05 |
| 2017 | 3:07 | 3:05 |
| 2016 | 3:09 | 3:07 |
| 2015 | 3:10 | 3:08 |
| 2014 | 3:07 | 3:06 |
| 2013 | 3:10 | 3:08 |
| 2012 | 3:09 | 3:06 |
| 2011 | 3:07 | 3:06 |
| 2010 | 3:06 | 3:05 |
| 2009 | 3:05 | 3:04 |
| 2008 | 3:03 | 3:02 |
| 2007 | 3:04 | 3:03 |
| 2006 | 3:05 | 3:03 |
| 2005 | 3:08 | 3:07 |
| 2004 | 3:09 | 3:07 |
| 2003 | 3:08 | 3:06 |
| 2002 | 3:09 | 3:09 |
| 2001 | 3:06 | 3:05 |
NFL game length: frequently asked questions
How long is a football game with commercials? About 3 hours and 4 minutes in the NFL, the 2025 regular-season average from kickoff to final whistle.
How long is halftime in the NFL? Thirteen minutes under the rulebook, about 14 in practice, about 20 on Thanksgiving Day and about 32 at the Super Bowl.
How long is the Super Bowl? 3:38 on average since the 2001 season, with a median of 3:36.
How long are NFL playoff games? Wild Card games average 3:07, divisional games 3:11 and conference title games 3:13, against 3:06 in the regular season.
What is the longest NFL game ever? By game clock, 82:40, the Dolphins at the Chiefs in 1971. By real time since the 1970 merger, 7:08, the Titans at the Dolphins in 2018.
How this was built: game length is the time between the first and last stamps in the time_of_day column of nflverse's play-by-play data, plus clock left after the last snap, for games from 2001 through Week 8 of 2026 (Nov. 4 file), with kickoff times from its games file. The column is empty in 1999 and 2000 and thinner in 2001 and 2002. Stamps mix formats and time zones, so we ignored dates and dropped stamps that ran backward or jumped and came back. We kept 6,786 of 6,879 games: 92 lacked stamps near the start or end and one had corrupt blocks. Every unexplained gap was checked; 21 were real stoppages. Delays before kickoff do not count. Cross-checks: we match the NFL's count of 10 of 15 games under three hours in Week 1 of 2017; averages reported by CBS Sports, 3:07:08 for 2016 and 3:07:01 for 2019 as of Oct. 20, compare with our 3:09:04 and 3:07:23, or 3:07:02 and 3:06:22 without overtime or stoppages.