Pick Up The Pace: Building The Perfect 2:30 Football Game
The football fans have spoken. And they are saying that the games last too damn long. Delays, reviews, timeouts and injuries turn 18 minutes of action into three-hours plus.
At least that’s the results of research done for the new XFL football league that starts play February 8, right after the Super Bowl. The startup league— which follows its predecessor XFL that folded after one season in 2001— will feature a number of new rules to (they hope) improve the sport, reduce injuries and, yes, speed up the pace of play.
Last week the league that brought you He Hate Me in its first go-round announced that, like the CFL, receivers will only need one foot in bounds for a catch. Teams will have options after a touchdown to score up to nine points on the TD by running plays from further out. No PATs. Overtime will be a series of “shootout” style possessions that, like hockey, allow both teams a chance to score. Kickoffs will feature the tacklers lining up on the opposition’s 35-yard line.
Punts into the end zone and out of bounds will be considered touchbacks that go to the 35-yard line. But the most telling changes gleaned from research by the Vince McMahon operation point to fans wanting a more streamlined game played in under three hours. As a result the XFL will play a running clock until two minutes are left in the half. No stops after incompletions or out of bounds. The play clock— like the CFL— will be 25 seconds. The halftime will be just 10 minutes long (NFL is 12 minutes).
Each team will have only two timeouts per half, and coaches will not be allowed to challenge officials' calls. The coin flip will be held 35 minutes before kickoff to speed up pregame. “Our desire to have the ability to have a complete regulation game as well as an overtime in that three-hour window is met by the way our game's constructed," says XFL commissioner Oliver Luck, father of Andrew.
The XFL is attempting to reach a younger, attention-challenged consumer with the promise of a predictable playing time. To grant live customers a tight spectacle. And a guaranteed time slot for broadcasters to prevent pushing back later games and events.
But it also hints at a problem infecting all pro sports these days. Look at the acres of empty seats (some already purchased) as games begin in most sports. Some fans arrive late. The rest don’t bother to show. Because of endless games and unwanted game inventory, the day of the sellout is waning. Look at the consecutive sellout streaks that are ending across every level of sport. New arenas and stadia are downsizing the number of seats.
There are many reasons but length of games is a major one. It’s no secret that the ascendent appeal of soccer and basketball is predicated on their crisp two-hour format. (The average length of an NBA game is two hours and 11 minutes as of 2018. NFL games stretch to 3:02) As well, the improvement in home entertainment systems makes sitting at home and paying $2 for a beer that costs $15 at the stadium into a preferable option.
The greatest sinner in running time is, as we’ve written before baseball with its four-hour-plus marathons for regular-season contests. As we wrote last October baseball is stall ball "because modern baseball has forsaken small ball. Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew… the maestros of hittin’ them where they ain’t is so Tuesday. Everything is launch angles, lift co-efficient and letting it fly for the fences. Between an allegedly juiced ball and the economics of the game that reward home-run sluggers over doubles hitters, everybody is aiming for the fence. The 2019 season featured remarkable home-run figures by teams.
The antidote to the Minnesota Twins’ Bash Boys has been micro-managing pitching. Your contemporary manager is running out relievers in every inning to stop big rallies. Which produces more stalling than playing, as relief pitchers trot into the game to face a handful of hitters at most.
(Leading to my eternal suggestion for saving time. Eliminate the warmup pitches for each relief pitcher. He’s had a mound to throw off of in the bullpen, that’s enough. Substitute NHL goalies don’t get warmup shots. A second-string QB doesn’t get to whip few passes when he takes over. An NBA replacement doesn’t get to test out the rim. So why drag out these games ever longer with this nonsense?)”
So far, MLB has made cosmetic changes but more needs to be done to hold the attention of a younger audience that would rather play E-Sports on their laptop in the basement.
The running times for hockey and other teams sports— bloated by TV commercial insertions— are not much better. Hockey games have an average of 81 stoppages in a game. While NHL commissioner Gary Bettman keeps saying his sport is perfect just the way it is a quick scan of the stands shows people are voting with their feet by not showing up to regular season product.
It remains to be seen whether this version of the XFL lasts longer than its predecessor. But one thing: if it does it well may be because good things come in smaller packages.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the publisher of Not The Public Broadcaster. He’s also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, he is also a best-selling author whose new book Cap In Hand: How Salary Caps Are Killing Pro Sports And Why The Free Market Could Save Them is now available on brucedowbigginbooks.ca.