8.3% play time - 91.7% other stuff

I wonder how a typical TSN telecast of a CFL game would compare to this breakdown of an NFL telecast. Probably not much different.

This the breakdown of the October 6th telecast of a New England - Cincinnati game.

That's why the roundy ballers, those that don't get pointy ball, say pointy ball has too much non-play time for their liking.

Although, if you broke that down as “kicking the ball around nowhere near the goal” vs. “actually exciting, meaningful action”…

It's not to me but soccer fans get that as exciting so whatever, to each his own.

Well the cfl would be significantly different in the camera focused on nylon on the field department.

I suspect CFL gameplay would be 10-12%; MAYBE as high as 15, but I doubt it.

When you think of it a game telecast is about 3 hours long and the game clock is only 60 minutes. So right away you are only working with about 33 - 35% of a telecast during which the clock is moving. How much of that is clock running between plays, or while players are in in the huddle etc. compared to time where the ball is actually in play.

I would be curious to know if the 'play time' is actually just the time from the snap to the end of the play, or if it includes the time when a quarterback is calling audibles and players are in motion presnap.

8.3% of 3 hours is about 15 minutes. If there are 120 plays in a game that means 7.5 seconds per play. So I’ll guess it is snap to whistle.

I'm no theatre guy but the few plays I've been to, you can tell much of the "story" is filler time.

My prediction on a few aspects of the time breakdown if it were for the CFL:

Amount of time spent on plays that were negated by a penalty: 20%

Amount of time officials spend huddling before they actually tell you what the penalty is and move the ball into position (even on stupidly obviously calls like time count violations that shouldn't require a pow-wow among the officials): 18%

Amount of time spent by the booth reviewing plays: 12%

Amount of time spent when officials have everything lined up, but blow the whistle before the snap, only to do absolutely nothing and re-whistle play back in 10 seconds later, all for no apparent reason: 4%

Wow, a new high in lows for whiny, childish ref-hating posts here. Let’s take a factual look as these “predictions”. Assuming there are approximately 160 plays in the average CFL game…

20% of plays negated by penalty? 32 penalties that were accepted by the non offending team? In one game? There are usually no more than 15 - 20 penalties in a CFL game to start with and many of them are declined so this is simply impossible. And, oh yeah, players cause penalties to be called, not officials.

18% of plays see a ref “huddle”? 29 plays? Are you kidding? And do you even know why refs do come together to discuss the play/call? They’re taught to get the call right and if another official has a better look, they’re required, by CFL mechanics, to stop the game to bring that forward to their fellow officials. Why do you see ref “huddles” as a bad thing? Football in real life, unlike your TV, is a 3 dimensional game and “stuff happens” that you can’t see on the screen or from the stands.

12% of plays reviewed? 19 reviews in a CFL game? Nope, not even close. And who triggers reviews? Coaches and the booth…and remember what I said about “getting the call right”?

4% of plays whistled before snap? 6 plays in a game? Nope. And just because it’s not “apparent” to you doesn’t mean it’s not important.

Oh what’s logic got to do, got to do with it
What’s logic but an undesired notion
What’s logic got to do, got to do with it
Who needs the facts
When some crap can be spoken

Thats why Super Rugby and World Rugby take the cake in my books and the CFL takes second and a distant third place the NFL for my liking in ovoid/pointy ball sports......

As many of you know, In pro rugby, you have two 40 minutes halfs with almost non stop action with no commercials (unless a player is unconscious or dead on the field and needs to be carried off via ambulance) and half time is only 15 minutes long with one small commercial break in most super rugby/world rugby telecasts.........

Pro football in NA is really really really and sadly commercialized and way too stop stop stop and go for my liking at times :expressionless: :thdn: :?

Anyway, Natal Sharks Forever! :thup: :rockin:

I suspect the actual play time in a CFL telecast is pretty much even with an NFL telecast or maybe even a touch less.

I know some people get hung up on the difference between the CFL’s 20 second clock and the NFL’s 40/25 second clocks, but often the CFL officials wait much longer to start the 20 second clock compared to the timing of the NFL ref starting the 25 second clock (which is in effect after penalties etc.). And the NFL 40 second clock starts instantly when the previous play ends, whereas it can often be as much as 20 seconds after the end of a CFL play before the official blows to start the 20 second clock in the CFL. So I think the play clock impact is a wash.

Just for the heck of it I went back and looked - and on the CFL website - the play by play item actually numbers the plays - counting EVERY play (kick-offs, punts, field goals, converts, rush attempts, pass attempts and sacks etc.). The Ti-Cats last two games - the EDF and GC had a total of 151 and 135 plays respectively.

Just at random I picked out two of the NFL games from last weekend. On the NFL site they don’t number the plays so I had to manually count each play. I did it quickly so I might be off by a few, but counting every play in the Denver-Indy game and Seattle - Carolina game the total number of plays run came in at 169 and 147 respectively.

Now obviously a bigger sample would be needed to draw any conclusions but the two games I chose at random, the average for the two NFL games a was 158 plays and the CFL games averaged a total of 143 plays per game.

I prefer the CFL clock, especially in the final three minutes of a half when the clock stops after EVERY play and then re-starts depending on how the last play ended. In NFL timing a team can essentially run out the clock without playing football (if the other team has no time outs) for the last minute +. I HATE when the NFL teams simply run off the field with 39 seconds left.

Unless I am mistaken we are talking about the percentage time of the ball being in play versus total telecast time not penalties and plays reviewed as a percentage of plays run.