The Athletic ($) Ran the Numbers on the New Length of CFB Games
I found this article from The Athletic over at /r/cfb. I'm not a subscriber, so I could not read it myself. However, the helpful (?) commenters at /r/cfb pull-quoted some of the relevant numbers:
The Alabama-Texas game officially lasted three hours and 24 minutes, of which approximately 45 minutes (not including halftime) were commercials. We compared that broadcast with three 2022 SEC games on ESPN. They followed the same format and averaged between 45 and 46 minutes. No noticeable change from last year.
The Athletic also compared the Week 2 Wisconsin-Washington State game (which falls under the Pac-12’s contract) on ABC with the network’s Week 2 USC–Stanford broadcast a year earlier. Sure enough: same 3-4-3-4 format, with the same exact total of 43:30 in commercials. For the Big 12, we matched the 2022 TCU-Baylor game on Fox with the 2023 Oregon-Texas Tech game on Fox. Both followed 4-4-4-4 formats with approximately 39 minutes of commercial time. And for the Big Ten, we compared Fox’s 2022 Nebraska-Northwestern matchup in Week 0 with its Week 3 broadcast of Western Kentucky-Ohio State this season. Same 4-4-4-4 format, same total of 46 minutes.
The consensus seems to be that broadcasters have used the new rules to shorten the broadcast time without affecting their total commercial time. Raise your hand if this outcome shocks you.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:31 AM ^
I'm fairly confused here (no old guy jokes please)
What is a "3-4-3-4 format" and how is that different than a "4-4-4-4 format" and what do either one have to do with the amount of commercial time versus the length of the game itself?
September 21st, 2023 at 11:35 AM ^
I think it refers to the number of full commercial breaks per quarter. (3 in the first quarter, 4 in the second quarter...)
And, yes, this does actually surprise me, as I expected they'd use the extra time to add more ads. I don't think anyone expected a reduction in the number of plays to result in fewer ads.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:42 AM ^
Defensive alignment for osu:
3 officials, 4 DL, 3 LBs, 4 "DBs"
or
4 officials, 4 DL, 3 LBs + 1 bonus official, 4 "DBs"
September 21st, 2023 at 1:21 PM ^
This is what the extra official is up to...
I'm shocked... Casablanca...
September 21st, 2023 at 1:35 PM ^
"Don't worry, we got this. See you after the game in the Metropole Lounge?"
September 21st, 2023 at 11:43 AM ^
Don't want to share too much that's behind the paywall, but I think this provides additional context and answers your question:
The Athletic obtained documents outlining commercial formats for all SEC and Big 12 games and certain Big Ten games. They vary slightly from conference to conference, and even between each conference’s network partner, but they look fairly similar. They’re either “3-4-3-4” — three breaks in the first and third quarters, four in the second and fourth quarters — or “4-4-4-4,” plus breaks at the end of the first and third quarters.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:48 AM ^
But those are scheduled commercial breaks, right? Does it account for the TD-commercial-kickoff-commercial, replay-commercial... type of breaks?
Honestly asking.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:02 PM ^
Per that article, any commercial breaks that aren't scheduled ones are only commercials that result from something on the field (replay, injury, etc) and they do not hold the play on the field any longer for the commercial break - that is, they'll only be those quick commercial breaks where there isn't a red hat guy on the field holding up play resuming.
So for TD commercial kickoff commercial, it's probably that they weren't able to fit in a commercial break earlier in the quarter and so are trying to cram in multiple of the three or four breaks per quarter they are required to fit in.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:12 PM ^
The person in red who walks out to the 20 to mark the time has a name and is completely unaware that they are my arch nemesis. I call that person Dr. Buzz Kill or Super Fun Wrecker or any other unflattering name will do.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:54 PM ^
Awwww, he's just the messenger. You have to yell at the press box. Wherever that is.
September 21st, 2023 at 1:04 PM ^
I called him the "red hat" and that's what the article calls him too haha
September 21st, 2023 at 4:37 PM ^
For some reason I suspect the red hat guy knows we hate him. The booing and red hat guy off chants give it away. I suspect he is just an average Joe doing his job - I still hate him.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
I'm a commercial counter. All three Michigan home games have been 4-4-4-4 (i.e., 4 commercial stoppages every quarter). This counts every time the "red hat" comes out on the field with his clock. Yes, stations will sneak in a 30-second break during a 30-second timeout, but they don't really sell those time slots, those are more for promos and not ads.
Just about every game last season was 4-4-4-4 as well. The breaks are no more frequent now and they are no longer in duration either. What has changed is garbage time--the clock ticks down fast without the first down stoppages, and so that necessitates things like that commercial break with 11 seconds left in the game last Saturday.
FOX is still I think the only station that will do a commercial-kickoff-commercial but when they do that both commercial breaks count against the 4 for the quarter.
September 21st, 2023 at 6:23 PM ^
What shocks me most of all is that FOX has pretty much the same amount of time for commercials that ESPN does. I could've sworn it was more. Somehow, Fox makes it seem like more.
If you think about the media market value of the respective teams/conferences, though, it doesn't surprise me that the Big Ten and SEC tend to have more commercial time than the Big 12 and Pac whatever.
September 21st, 2023 at 1:02 PM ^
yeah - i mean, there are games where we have a
Commercial
Turnover / change of possession
Commercial
Run a play.
Timeout.
Commercial
Injury still
Commercial
Run a play
End of quarter commercial
All in like 2 minutes of game time. And its pretty common. Constant "breaks in the action"... its exhausting.
September 21st, 2023 at 1:37 PM ^
The injuries helped make the Michigan game particularly excruciating last week.
September 21st, 2023 at 2:58 PM ^
The succinct answer is 'yes.'
The networks get to decide where their breaks go, but the number of breaks per quarter is in the contract.
it often seems more egregious in Michigan games because of Michigan's ball-control offense; the networks know that they need to put the breaks in as soon as they get an opportunity because otherwise they might not get a chance to do so. That's particularly true in a 4-4-4-4 contest.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:42 AM ^
The FOX Big Noon and CBS 3:30 SEC games are the most notorious for commercials --- I'd be interested in seeing numbers for those games.
PSU @ Illinois on FOX Noon last week took 4 hours and 2 minutes! The game wasn't even good or interesting!
September 21st, 2023 at 1:05 PM ^
They mention that the SEC on CBS games have the most breaks - each of those breaks are apparently 40 seconds shorter. But seriously, nobody watching gives any craps about that.
September 21st, 2023 at 2:00 PM ^
Comparing the length of a game like PSU @ Illinois to the figures cited in game length analyses always leaves me with sampling and methodology questions. When does the game timer start? The listed start time? The beginning of the broadcast? Kickoff? There can be a 10 to 15 gap between those times. And when does the game end? The final whistle? The cut to the next program? Measuring the game from kickoff to final whistle can dramatically understate the effective length of a game and the number of commercials shoehorned into the broadcast.
Similarly, what games get counted when determining average game length? I imagine that most of us use games involving a P5 team broadcast on a major network as our reference point for a standard college football game. There are a lot of games that don't fit that criteria and, as a result, probably run much quicker. In fact, I would guess that there are more of those games than major network games each week. Does a game between two one-win Mountain West teams that streams on the equivalent of BTN+ and finishes in less than three hours go into the pot used to calculate average game length? If so, the average game length figures quoted at us don't really mean much, as they don't tell us anything meaningful about the football games that most people watch.
September 21st, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
I got the 4:02 length of game from PSU's box-score PDF --- it listed a 11:05 AM (local) kick and 3:07 PM finish.
Most school's official websites have these PDFs. For BGSU/Michigan, it was listed as a 7:45 PM kick and 10:47 PM finish. Would have finished under 3:00 if not for that final time-out!
https://mgoblue.com/documents/2023/9/17/20230916-fbl-bowling-green.pdf
September 21st, 2023 at 2:35 PM ^
The BG game would have been well under 3 without the lengthy (~10 minute?) injury stoppage.
September 21st, 2023 at 2:53 PM ^
I did not realize that the official box scores listed the game length! That actually answers my first question. The cited game length is from kickoff to final whistle. In my opinion, that figure understates the perceived duration. Ignoring the gap between the posted game time and actual kickoff hides the cumulative effect of the commercials and dead time that degrade the in-person and at-home experiences.
That still leaves my sampling question unanswered. When someone cites an average game length of 3:22, what games were averaged?
September 21st, 2023 at 11:44 AM ^
I haven't read the article, but it sure seems like there have been more commercials. The BGSU game was just an insane slog. I stopped keeping track, but I'm pretty sure that by the beginning of the 2nd quarter, there were actually more commercial breaks than Michigan offensive plays up to that point. For sure, the number of M offensive plays was limited by turnovers, but still...
September 21st, 2023 at 11:55 AM ^
I had a wedding to attend this past Saturday. Initially I was bummed because it was a step-cousin of my wife who we hardly ever see, and I knew it would be a phenomenal day for a tailgate. We returned home right at kickoff, and by the 3rd quarter I said "I am so glad I did not go to this game." Then in the 4th I said "I'm really glad I didn't go to this game. I wouldn't be getting home until after midnight."
This comes from a nearly 2 decade season ticket holder who at most misses 1 game every other year. Now it is getting to the point where if there is another uninspiring night game, I will probably sit that out (i.e. IU 2021 type game).
September 21st, 2023 at 12:21 PM ^
I hear you, I rarely miss a home game (last season being an exception when I had to leave the home opener at halftime [nephew's wedding] and the entire Illinois game [niece's wedding]. Three games into this season I've noticed a definite increase in game stoppage time vs actual football being played. It's the ratio that's changed for the worse.
While I hate sounding like the old man I am (in chronological years, anyway), the massive commercial interruptions of a wonderful spectator sport are ruining the experience, doing more damage than even the on-field DJ.
September 21st, 2023 at 1:56 PM ^
And The Athletic completely ignored this point: even if it's true that there aren't more commercials, there's less game action (not a ton less, but still), so a higher percentage of the broadcast is ad time.
September 21st, 2023 at 8:58 PM ^
Agree. That's the most important negative result.
And it feels like the fewer plays aspect is noticeable. But, of course, it could be that it is only apparent because I know that it exists.
September 21st, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
Now imagine you had to drive up from Fort Wayne IN. This was the best decision I ever made to not come to that game. And it is only the 2nd night game I have missed. I have you beat by 2 decades. Not only that but 3:30 games will probably fade away for me. That's the new reality. But on a positive note, it is easier to sell tickets.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
Cutting to a commercial break with 11 seconds left in the game when Michigan was just going to kneel the ball to run out the rest of the clock was the most egregious thing I've ever seen
September 21st, 2023 at 9:36 PM ^
We were still in the stadium at that point, 11 seconds left. Normally in these types of games I am long gone by then. But we have to miss this Saturday’s game and it was already late. As soon as it went to commercial I laughed got up and got the hell out of there. And we didn’t get home until almost 2 am. Traffic was very slow leaving Ann Arbor. The older I get, 44 now, the more I hate night games. Especially against teams that I will forget about in a week.
September 28th, 2023 at 10:46 AM ^
I feel you man. I once was on the west coast during a football Saturday and watching the game at 9am with my breakfast (and a little breakfast stout) then having my entire day ahead of me when the game ended before lunch was absolutely glorious
September 21st, 2023 at 1:07 PM ^
I agree with you. Every Saturday the first thing I do is set up the stations games will be on on my remote so I can quickly pull up my recent channels and jump between games to get updates during commercial breaks. There have been multiple times each Saturday this season I have flipped channels across 5 games and all 5 have been at commercial breaks. That is almost impossible to have happen without more commercials taking place.
September 21st, 2023 at 2:01 PM ^
The BGSU game only took 3 hours (7:45 kickoff and ended around 10:45). Unfortunately, the BTN producers jammed the same number of commercials into a shorter game time, resulting in a higher proportion of commercials.
The reason the game was so short is that BGSU gave up and decided to burn clock in the 2nd half. If not for all those BGSU injuries, the game might've ended before the 2:55 mark.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:52 AM ^
Bullshit rule changes for more money and less football and ridiculously non-regional conferences are ruining college football. All so some cunt in a tenth floor corner office can add to his bank account.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:57 AM ^
To their already large bank account! Not like the mid level employee is going from making 60K to 80K and improving quality of life. (I would still hate the excessive breaks, but at least some good would come from it).
September 21st, 2023 at 12:05 PM ^
*their
September 21st, 2023 at 11:57 AM ^
Okay, but this actually seems to defeat the predominant narrative that networks were using the shortened games to add more commercials into the game. Nobody thought shorter games meant less commercials and it wouldn’t make sense for it to result in less — there were never commercial breaks when the clock was stopped after first downs, so none of the commercial periods (end of quarters, end of possessions, etc) were eliminated.
Still hate the new clock rules, but the conspiracy theory that they’re a secret way to make the networks more money doesn’t make sense if the networks haven’t added more commercials.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:03 PM ^
Does it though? If the broadcast is shortened but the commericial time is the same, that seems like the very definition of adding more commercials into an equivalent broadcast window.
September 24th, 2023 at 9:31 PM ^
The article explicitly says the number of commercials and the total time of the commercials remain exactly the same. So, no, more commercials were not added, nor were they lengthened.
What happened is that the time between commercials was shortened, which makes sense when the clock is stopping less. The football to commercials ratio went down because their is less football, not more commercials.
Again, I hate the new clock rules, but this just proves that the networks did not add more commercials, the games simply got shorter (at least in the games/networks analyzed by the Athletic)
September 22nd, 2023 at 1:36 PM ^
I bet when they first made out of bounds plays run the clock it shortened the game. But then guess what creeped back up and it wasnt game play that was extending games.
They know everyone is watching so they will take their time with this.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:58 AM ^
I read the article.
Sure, there aren't more commercials than before the rule-change...but there's less football.
We have the same amount of commercial time and fewer actual football plays. The ratio is worse. They've shortened the game while keeping the same number of commercials.
This is bad.
Per the article - average game time has been reduced by six minutes from 3:22 to 3:16. Frankly, if I'm investing three-plus hours to watch a game, give me those damn six minutes back in the form of actual football.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
Right!? Also something that might contribute to these games feeling like they last forever is kickoffs for noon games actually being at 12:07 or whatever... I wonder if they're counting the commercials they shove in before kick like Fox loves to, or at least think there was one or two after noon but before kickoff in The Game last year.
Nicole Auerbach and Chris Vannini also did an article about the new clock rules and this quote irked me to no end.. The game is "very watchable", when it's on it is... The product though is far from very watchable.
“Early on, we’re optimistic that the change is doing exactly what we thought it would do,” NCAA national coordinator of officials Steve Shaw said. “At the end of the day, the game is very watchable. I will tell you, if we didn’t talk about it and if we had just done it, fans would never recognize it. Could a fan sit there watching a Colorado game and say, ‘Hey, you’re down six plays?’ I mean, no way, right? “There might be a little bit of a feeling sometimes, like, this game is moving along pretty quick. That’s what we want — to keep the game moving. We don’t want to dramatically change the game. We just wanted to modestly reduce the number of plays.”
September 21st, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^
Wow, actually the game is very unwatchable and everybody in the stadium notices we are getting less football. There is a commercial after each possession and no flow to the game.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
Exactly! Who actually cared about this? Honest question.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:02 PM ^
I threw my hands up years ago with commercials. I just watch the game delayed and FF thru them. Don't care if the suspense is spoiled, that's the price you gotta pay and its worth it to me.
Shhhhhh. I use my cell phone to toggle over to Reader Version to read the articles, based on a tip from someone here.
September 21st, 2023 at 3:18 PM ^
I do the same thing but I stay away from social media and mgoblog so I still don't know what happened. Actually the older I get the less I can stomach losses so I check the message boards first and its pretty obvious from the post titles if we won or not and I just don't watch the losses. Not knowing the score or any details but knowing we won is my ideal way to watch a football or basketball game, heh. I finally talked my Mom into letting us (my dads on my side) check the result and skip the OSU game if we lost because ruining thanksgiving weekend like 17 years in a row sucked...and of course those were the last two years when we won anyway, lol.
September 21st, 2023 at 12:04 PM ^
I hate it. Same total time allocated to watching a game with less plays to watch. Not mentioned in the OP, but I think they also expanded halftime length by a few minutes. I always would set a timer for halftime and that same timer length has routinely brought me back to a channel with many minutes of halftime remaining this year (whereas last year it was basically right on time for kickoff).
September 21st, 2023 at 12:04 PM ^
My dream after Warren left as B1G commissioner was Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley, or Billy Payne. Use the Masters TV model.
Single year TV contracts and 4 minutes of commercials for every hour of coverage.
It would never happen but a guy can dream, right?
September 21st, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
Solid model, with fewer ads that cost more money. Dr. Pepper and Nissan will still pay whatever it is to have the entire 4 minutes.