How long is halftime in the NFL? How does it compare to MLB halftime and other American sports?

How long is halftime in the NFL? How does it compare to MLB halftime and other American sports?

The Chicago Bears and New England Patriots will match up on Monday Night Football today. Considering the game, it’s worth looking at how long NFL halftime is.

The Bears and Patriots are currently on opposite trajectories. New England started their season off slow, and then Mac Jones got injured.

However, Bailey Zappe has played admirably in Jones’ absence, and the Pats are currently riding a 2 game-win streak. Meanwhile, the Bears started the season off with a promising win against the 49ers and were 2-1 after their first three games.

A 3-game slide has dropped them to 2-4, and the losing streak has opened up more questions about the team than answers. Justin Fields has a big year ahead of him in terms of development, and Chicago may not have given him everything he needs to get to where he can be at.

Also Read: NFL Perfect Season: Relive Miami Dolphins’ Perfect 1972 Season

How Long is NFL Halftime?

Halftime is 12 minutes long for all NFL regular season games. Pre-1990, the break was actually 15 minutes but it has since been cut by 3 minutes.

One possible reason for this could be the already excessive commercial interruptions. Breaks between quarters breaks between possessions, and timeouts mean that an hour of game time takes around 3 hours of broadcast time.

For the Super Bowl, the halftime show takes around half an hour. Popular music artists are invited to put on a concert for the fans. Last season, the star-studded cast of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, and Mary J. Bilge performed for the Super Bowl half time show.

How does this compare to MLB halftime and other sports and leagues?

  • NCAA Football: 20 minutes
  • NCAA Basketball: 20 minutes
  • NBA: 15 minutes
  • NHL: Two 17 minute breaks between periods
  • MLS: 15 minutes

Also Read: Mac Jones Injury Report: Will Jones Play Against The Bears On Monday?

Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
Chicago Bears Justin Fields Mac Jones New England Patriots NFL

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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